


Apartment #43

by VaultedVendigo



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Omnic Crisis, Alternate Universe - No Overwatch, Apartment dwelling, Bastardized lore (for the better), Genji learns manners, M/M, Omnic Racism, the neighbor AU no one asked for
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-16
Updated: 2019-05-24
Packaged: 2019-07-12 23:48:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 29,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16005845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VaultedVendigo/pseuds/VaultedVendigo
Summary: Who knew one load of laundry could eventually lead to spiritual enlightenment?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> ((Eyy. So this is unnecessarily long, and will have several chapters. But I wanted a slow burn that showed Genji without the Hanzo Incident™ and having never been to Nepal with Zenyatta and never learning the ways of the world outside of a rich life, and Zenyatta being a dork. Hope you like it!

Lena walked into the laundry room at a lazy pace, yawning as she went. While she wasn't a fan of doing laundry, Emily was fairly insistent on it, and the sheer amount of sweaters they went through during the cold weather made it much more of a task than it had any right being. Sure, the basket felt dense from the heavy material, but luckily they didn't have to spend money to dry them! They'd hang them around the flat, and- 

Her inner commentary stopped cold when she saw the room already occupied. With half the florescents burnt out, the lighting was eerie, and highlighted the outline of a lithe silhouette standing in front of both washers off to the left of the room painting a creepier picture. 

While she cut an intimidating figure, Lena relaxed upon recognition. "Machines eat your quarters again?" She chirped out, approaching Amelie with the overladen basket. 

"Non. Three days, I have come here to do my laundry. Three days, the same clothes sit inside." Her accent made the words lilt, but they were spat out anyways, venom in her tone. Turning to look at the Brit, her eyes narrowed. "5 months here, and I have yet to do my laundry when I _want_."

Dropping her basket to the off white tiling, Lena grabbed the lid, peeking inside. It looked like a lot of tee shirts, some pants, but a ridiculous pair of boxers gave her the hint she needed. "Ah, these are Genji's! He's the bloke up on-"

This, evidently, was not what she wanted to hear. Scowl worsening, Amelie bumped Lena to the side with her hip, the smaller girl making a noise of surprise and shifting. 

Amelie dug out both piles of clothes, slightly dried just from time and smelling a little off from sitting for so long. Leaving them on the tops of each washer she reached up to the small window above the dryers, pushing it open. 

Lena made a protest when Amelie began throwing handfuls out the window, listening to them flutter momentarily before disappearing into the snowy void of a two story free fall. "Hey! You can't just-"

"5 months!" She bit out again, flicking the boxers out of the window with extra distaste. "Every time has been that stupid boy! How hard is it? To move your laundry?"

"Luv we all know he's awful with putting away his clothes, but-" Sighing, Lena put her hand on her cheek, watching as Amelie opened one of the now empty washers and loading her clothes in. 

"Complain or non, the washer is free and he will learn a lesson." Tapping the lid of the free washer with a sharp nail, the French woman waited as Lena shuffled, looked at the window, and relented. Scooting over her basket, Lena began to pluck out the items while Amelie's mouth curled into a small smile. "Welcome to the dark side, cherie."

-

Shimada Hanzo made it home close to 3 am. 

Breath coming out in an opaque cloud, he pulled his scarf around his face tighter. He'd never had a face piercing, while living through the winters in Hanamura. Keeping his scarf up to cover his bridge piercing now was key, since the stainless steel sapped up the chill and ached horribly on the twenty minute walk home. 

He had followed his younger brother to Denver, Colorado after his sibling had fled Hanamura. Shimada Genji had disappeared in the night, the eve before his 21st birthday. The timing of this wasn't a surprise by any means; he had been offered an ultimatum at the age of 16. Join the family business by his 21st birthday, or face the consequences of avoiding his life's purpose. 

Waking up to his younger brother missing had been jarring for Hanzo, but not in the way one would expect. It has been palpable _relief_. They came from a family that was tied into the Yakuza, running drugs, weapons and black market omnic parts through the entirety of the Japan and having a stranglehold on Hanamura. Their lives were training for their place from day one, but while Hanzo had learned that it would do him better to listen to instruction, Genji refused to bow. Not in training, not in lessons, not when his antics had gotten the Clan in hot water. His chin was always tipped just high enough to earn punishment.

When both of their parents were gone, Hanzo and Genji were heavily divided. Hanzo wanted to take over their parents place, to run the trade lines that had been built by their family generations ago, while Genji wanted to flee. To go to America, get out of a life of crime no matter how organized it was. 

When Hanzo was instructed to kill his younger sibling on the morning of his 21st birthday, after Genji had again refused to embrace his Shimada roots, the elder became filled with conflict. 

He had told Genji, and allowed him to flee.

That itself had gotten him banished, but it was better than death.

With very little money to his name, Hanzo spent two months tracking down his younger brother. When he found him, he was surprised that Genji bought a plane ticket for him. Though when he questioned how he gained money, his younger brother laughed at him. "You don't think I took from the Clan before I left? For being in a syndicate, you're such a goodie two shoes brother!"

Since then, he'd been here; an apartment building outside of Denver, acclimating to American culture and working on his English. Though Genji tried to assure they didn't need to worry about money, Hanzo was not nearly as much of a creature of trust. However much Genji took, they would need more, considering his brothers love of fine food and expensive clothes. 

So, Hanzo had taken up a job bartending. It wasnt hard to learn by any stretch, though some of his co-workers were less than tolerable. 

Well. More like just one. 

Still, regardless, Hanzo had finished his trek home, approaching the building and noticing what seemed to be little lumps dusted over with the barely accumulated fresh powder. Toeing one with his boot, a dark brow raised as he recognized the pattern of the shirt. 

It was one he had moved to the dryer many times, considering his brother was awful with finishing his laundry. 

A huff created a further plume of dragons breath in the cold air, and Hanzo headed inside. Genji would have to retrieve them himself if he had angered someone enough that his clothes had become lawn decorations. 

Inside, he tapped his shoes off in front of the doorway, and again when he reached the ugly welcome mat that had been there as long as he had. It had been his 'moving in present', though he suspected Genji wanted to torture him with the hideous font and the adolecent crayon letters scrawled vibrantly on it. 

Inside, shoes were toed off, jacket and scarf were hung, and Hanzo allowed himself to sink into the couch and yawn deeply, back popping with his slight stretch. He could allow himself an hour of rest, but nothing more; he was still struggling on obtaining a good sleep cycle for his current occupation. 

That, of course, went poorly. 

When he was awoken in the morning to the smell of pancakes, his nose twitched as his stomach growled. Eyes squinting open against the sun lit apartment, he could hear Genji's off tune whistling from the kitchen. 

Lifting his hand, he looked at his wrist. 

12:43 p.m.

"Damn," he mumbled softly, pushing himself to sit up. The nice bun his hair had been in was now incredibly mussed, stray strands sticking out at every angle and the entire style loosened from moving in his sleep. 

"Good morning!" Genji greeted, wearing a bright grin as he inexpertly flipped a pancake.

"It is the afternoon," His brother corrected, which earned a chuckle. 

"It is not my fault you fell asleep, Hanzo. No need to be cheeky."

"... Cheeky?"

"Ah, British term. It means..... being a smart ass, but not so severely."

"Hm. Lena?"

"Who else?" Dropping the pancake onto another plate, Genji scooped up his own, absolutely drowning the stack in maple syrup.

Shimada Genji was at the ripe age of 22, and basically knew how to make pancakes and kimchi. All other foods were purchased, but this progress was exciting in his mind. 

After he had fled from Hanzo's warning, he had arrived in the United States and was questioned for ages through customs. His spoken English was more broken than he had anticipated, but reading and writing it was still easier and helped with that process. Only slightly, but it was enough to get him through. 

Considering that visas between Japan, America and Brazil had been abolished in referendum 5-ef32-a1 back in 2063, he caught a break with his ability to stay. The biggest airport he had flown into on such short notice was in Denver, and that is where he settled down. 

It went from living in a hotel room, to going to a bar two weeks in and hitting it off with the bartender. While he loved to play the field, this man wasn't quite his taste, leaving them to become fast friends instead of a one night stand. A bonafide cowboy, who upon finding out he was living at one of the high class hotels in town mocked him relentlessly for his spending habits. 

The man, McCree, gave him word of a place not far from the bar itself that had some vacancies, and the rest was history. 

Before Hanzo moved in, the place was barren, bar a low quality futon in the living room that had been left by the previous tenant and an overly expensive mattress in Genji's room that he had gotten delivered. After spending a life of having things set up for him, the idea of furnishing a whole house came too overwhelming, leaving him to stay out all day and only enter the apartment to sleep out of hatred at the barrenness. 

Of course his brother didn't stand for this, and was vaguely disgusted his sibling had stayed like this for nearly 6 months before he worked to make it a genuine home.

Now, though, he could at least cook food! Hanzo trailed into the living room and grabbed the remaining plated pancakes, grabbing butter instead and sprinkling brown sugar on them once they were coated in it. 

"So," Genji managed to get out through a mouthful of pancake, "How was work?"

"Fine," Hanzo shrugged, rolling one of his pancakes and eating it like a finger food. He never wanted to talk about his job, but Genji never stopped asking. 

"How's your boyfriend?"

The glare Hanzo offered as he paused mid bite could level cities, and Genji remained unphased as he chewed his food like a cow with cud. 

"When will you cease mentioning McCree at any given point?"

"Ahhhh, but I didn't say McCree! I said boyfriend!"

"McCree is not only in a relationship, but a living nightmare of a man. I would never-"

"Aww, he's dating someone?! Since when?!" Dropping his plate with a clatter to the counter, Genji fished out his phone from his sweatpants with syrup sticky fingers. "Over a year of friendship, and I get no word of this? He's dead to me! How could he keep this from me?"

"Maybe he values privacy," Hanzo muttered, setting down his own plate to get a kettle going for tea. Brushing the brown sugar from his fingertips, his expression stayed convincingly aloof. "He was picked up last night by a gentleman with a dark beard and seemed eager to leave."

"..... Wait." Pausing mid tap, Genji glanced up. "The 'gentleman'. Dark skin, very intense expression, somehow taller than him?"

Not wanting to admit that he had watched the stranger like a hawk, Hanzo gave a small shrug as he turned on the stove top. "Seems familiar."

"Oh thank- Hanzo!" Rolling his eyes, Genji's rapid fire fingers went back to typing, though this time he seemed amused, "That is Reyes, he worked with Jesse in the military!"

"That means nothing to me." 

"That is like his father! They are definitely not together," Genji clarified, too engrossed with texting to notice Hanzo relax the slightest bit. After he sent the message to McCree, Genji grinned. "I told him you're jealous of his dad and have spent the morning pouting."

Offering a deep chested sigh, Hanzo let his head tip back. "Do you make it your mission, to be a thorn in my side?"

"When there's time for it," the younger shrugged, smile taunting. 

"If you ever made an attempt to be nicer to me, I would aim to help you more. Like with your laundry."

"Im fine at laundry," Genji shrugged, touching his fingertips together and letting his nose scrunch when they had to peel away from each other. 

"I was meaning your laundry that is all over the front lawn of the complex." That earned his little brothers gaze snapping up, eyes wide. 

"In the snow?!"

"Seems someone finally tired of you leaving the washers occupied for days on end."

"Hanzo!" The name came out as a whine as Genji scrambled from the kitchen, heading to the front door to try to stuff his feet into a pair of boots, "Why didn't you grab them?!"

"I was too busy trying to talk myself out of _heartbreak_ over your best friend and his military companion," Hanzo deadpanned, though he did go about setting up for two cups of tea, since his brother would probably appreciate it after the cold. Genji shoved his arms into the first jacket he could reach, worked his left foot further into his boot, opened the front door to bound out of it and-

Stopped. 

Hearing the lack of thudding footfalls, Hanzo looked up. 

Genji was standing still, looking down at...... all of his laundry. 

It was washed and folded perfectly, two towels rolled in a way similar to a fancy hotel and all clean and dry. Genji's head tipped to the left, bright locks of green falling into his eyes as he looked down at them. "Did. You do my laundry?"

"No. I left it on the lawn." Hearing his brother trail up, Genji noticed his confusion to be just as pure from his peripheral vision. "It appears someone went through the trouble of collecting it from the snow for you."

"It costs money to do laundry," Genji couldn't help but point out, getting more and more puzzled, "Someone paid.... To do my laundry? And knew it was mine?"

Genji was snapped out of his reverie when he was nudged by Hanzo. Glancing at him, he followed his gaze, which was locked on the doorway across from theirs. It had been plain and undecorated for quite some time, the last tenants having moved out before the winter had hit. Now, though, there was some sort of greeting sign, hung with soft looking red material and written in a language that neither recognized as well as.... Bianary? 

"I didn't realize we had gotten a new neighbor," Genji admitted, though his fascination with the clothes was far from over. Then, the idea popped into his head so clearly that it worked a smile onto his face. "Maybe it was them!"

"Their door was not decorated last night, brother. Those are new. The chances of this person digging through the snow to wash the laundry you neglected before moving in to their new home is slim. Though it was my momentary thought." Reaching down, Hanzo scooped up the clothing, giving a soft tut. "And here I thought you may actually have to face a punishment for once."

Genji opened his mouth to speak, probably to make a smart ass comment on his complete banishment from most of Japan, when gravely and kind voice came from the end of the hallway. "Well I'll be a monkeys uncle. That the Shimada brothers this early in the day?" 

Hanzo's eyes went momentarily wider before his jaw clenched, both Shimadas turning to face the source of the noise. Near the stairwell and looking completely underdressed for the cold weather was one powder dusted Jesse McCree. It must have still been snowing lightly; the crystals stuck in his hair and on the brim of his looked like a dusting of flour, and his smile was wide enough on tanned skin to make stark teeth match the color of the snow. 

"Jesse! I didn't think you'd be here so fast," Genji admitted with a hand lifting in greeting, only for Hanzo to elbow him hard enough in the ribs that he gave a soft wheeze. 

 _"Why would you invite him over?"_ Hanzo all but hissed through his teeth in Japanese, watching the cowboy lazily approach. He was dressed in a flannel and a comfortable looking serape, but nothing that would keep the bone deep chill of a winter breeze away from sun darkened skin. He was taller than Hanzo, muscled in a different way, and.....

One of the most annoying men Hanzo had ever had the displeasure of encountering. 

He was loud, vaguely arrogant, with a complete disregard for personal space. His taste in alcohol was horrendous, his endearments overwhelming, and by all means his kindness seemed disingenuine. There was no proof of that, but no one would be so willing to offer help the way he was without expecting payment. 

They also, by total chance and not at all his brother sticking his fingers into the pies of life, worked together. 

It was his jobs only flaw. 

_"I told him you were jealous of his mentor and he found it funny. Also mentioned being in the area already so I invited him for tea."_

_"I only made enough for two."_

_"Good thing I'm not the thirsty one here."_ Patting his brother hard enough on the back that the elder nearly dropped the clothes he was holding, Genji held the door open wider. "Welcome!" 

"Thank ya kindly," He responded with a tip of the hat, grin crooked. When he walked past Hanzo, dark eyes gave a wink that set the other mans shoulder stiff. "Love the bed head, darlin'."

"I will not take criticism from a man who thinks that 1 o'clock in the afternoon is 'early'," He responded coldly, trying not to focus on how disgusting his hair suddenly felt. Would it have been so hard to brush it before breakfast?

"Since when is a compliment a criticism?" He asked, slipping off his serape and hanging it (infuriatingly) over Hanzo's own coat. The hat followed, leaving him in a worn plaid shirt and time softened jeans. Compared to Hanzo, who was wearing the same outfit he went to work in that consisted of dark pants and a black tee shirt, he seemed downright comfy. 

Hanzo hated him more than anything. 

"What's with the laundry?" Jesse's question snapped him out of his reverie, bringing attention to the fact that he was staring at McCree's serape in disgust while gripping Genji's clothes perhaps a little too tightly. 

"We have a mystery drycleaner," Genji said conspiratorially from the kitchen, looking thrilled at the prospect as he carefully poured steaming water into the two cups. "Hanzo said my clothing was on the lawn this morning, but when I went to grab it it was already done and on the doorstep." 

"Oh really now?" Jesse asked, walking over and sitting on the couch with the comfort of a man who paid rent. The eyeroll Hanzo gave was not very subtle, but McCree didn't seem to mind. Watching as Hanzo flopped the bundle down on the end table, McCree's gaze settled on the towels before his voice turned amused. "Just today?" 

Noticing this, Hanzo's fingers stopped trying to comb his hair into a presentable bun, instead letting it all fall from his grasp. "Why are you staring?" 

"Well, uh. I think I may actually be able to solve this little mystery. Y'see, I was gonna tell you guys in a more fun way than this, but me and my roommate just moved in across the way, and-"

"Wait, who-"

_"What?"_

Both Shimadas spoke at once, Genji's more stilted surprise and Hanzo's actual horror. When both stared at the cowboy like he'd grown a second head, he carefully continued, "I mean. Yeah, he just moved to town last month. Started stayin' with me after he came into the bar looking for a job, since he was originally programmed as a janitorial omnic, but Jack didn't have anythin' for him. But he's uh- Let's just say a character. I ended up talkin' Reyes into lettin' him clean things up at the garage and charge at my place when he was found powered down in the office a few times."

"Your roommate is a service omnic?" This idea alone seemed to interest Genji, who passed off one tea to McCree and the other to Hanzo before plopping down on the couch. 

"He ain't just a 'service omnic'. He's a good worker, but it's more than that. He's got........" Pausing for a moment to find the right word, McCree took a sip of his tea before giving a small smile. "Soul."

This, Genji laughed at, and Hanzo blew on his tea to avoid thinking about such wording coming from the cowboy. 

"Soul? A service omnic? Are you sure he wasn't just programmed with an interesting way to say 'Would you like indoor or outdoor seating'?" 

"Hey now, enough of that," Jesse said, though his voice was more firm than usual, "Zen's a great guy. And-" Pointing at the towels, McCree added, "the only man I've met that can fold a towel like that."

"Oh?" Off of his teasing of omnics, Genji finally seemed to understand, "Do you think he saw laundry and.... Felt compelled or something?" 

This earned a sigh, Jesse's metal hand shifting the small cup in his hand, "Y'know for bein' such a fun guy you're awful close-minded. He ain't got programmin' like that. He probably felt bad for you and did it."

Genji opened his mouth to speak, but a hand flew out and hit him in the chest once. Thankfully, Hanzo disrupted him before he could say anything else that was rude. "How would he have known they were Genji's?" 

"I mean, he's been here for a few days. Came in and got some stuff in the apartment set up, and, well. It ain't like Genji dresses like other people. One shirt is enough to be distinguishable." Another sip, and McCree's smile softened. "Good to know I've got some good neighbors though."

He received a scowl in return. 

"So wait, wait," Genji interrupted, shuffling forward so his elbows met his knees, "You're trying to tell me that you have a service omnic as a roommate?" 

"Nah, I think I just told ya that pretty clearly. Ain't tryin' if I succeeded." 

"Don't be literal! But he did my laundry. To be kind?" 

"Sounds like him," McCree said, giving another shrug, "Though if you keep bein' such a damn pill about dislikin' omnics, I ain't gonna jump the gun on introducin' you two."

"I don't dislike them!" Genji defended, "I just. Don't see how they could have much personality. The omnics back in Japan were so bland, outside of the companion kind. And here, they are not common."

"Oh they're common. But they usually work behind the curtain, if you catch my drift."

"We do not," Hanzo assured, cutting his brother off once more when he opened his mouth again. 

"Well, omnics in the States usually work in food service, factories, janitorial, transportation. Ain't treated quite right, but ain't outwardly hated. Only ones that are treated half decent work in the entertainment or companion industry." Scratching at his cheek, Jesse's nose scrunched, "In the military they were actually treated as dispensable, since they could get parts fully replaced, but it ain't like that don't hurt 'em. Hell, some of the best people I've ever met are omnics, and Zen's included."

"Zen?" Genji asked. 

"Zenyatta," McCree said in way of clarification, "Nice enough guy to take time out of his day to salvage your clothes from the cold. Sounds just like him."

"I apologize to change the subject, but are we completely skipping the information that you are moved in across the way from us?" Hanzo asked, the very idea making his stomach clench for a reason he didn't quite know. 

"I mean yeah, I told Genji about this place because I was interested in movin' in myself. Granted I had to let my lease at my old apartment run out first," McCree said, mouth curling into a small smile, "You fond'a that information, doll?" 

"I can and will break your ribs," Hanzo responded, though that got a wink in response. "Unbelievable. You are-"

"Handsome? Dashing? Man'a your dreams?"

"Spilling your tea."

A glance down, and Jesse hadn't realized that his hand had tipped to rest lazily, hot liquid covering his metal fingers and dripping onto the carpet. "Ah- Jesus H. Christ on a cross-" Flicking his fingers, Jesse set down his cup, apologizing, "Didn't mean to make a stain."

"I expected nothing less," Hanzo sighed, though he still slid over one of the nicely folded towels so McCree could clean it up. "It truly soothes me to see that you spill tea as well as alcohol."

"That was _one beer_ , ya damn tease," McCree griped, though he didn't seem too fussed. Instead, he just seemed happy Hanzo was chatting with him.

 He was usually like that; When the two worked together (nearly every shift, mind you), McCree would be talking for every second a customer wasn't. Asking about Hanzo's favorite drink, some random childhood memory, if he'd ever climbed a tree, his favorite type of bubblegum. None stop questions, and when Hanzo wouldn't respond, he'd give his own answer instead. 

Somehow, he always squeezed the answer out of the elder Shimada anyways, but it's not as if Hanzo would ever admit it.

"While this is lovely," Genji interrupted, reaching out to pluck up a shirt from the pile, "I need to get ready to get lunch. Tell your roommate thank you."

"You know, you could do that," McCree pointed out, pressing his foot onto the towel so he could sit back up. The second Hanzo noticed he was still wearing his shoes, he had to restrain himself from reaching over to smack him. "He's probably just across the way."

"Eh, maybe later. I'm sure it's busy moving stuff," He dismissed a little too readily, about to keep walking when McCree's voice fell flat. 

"He."

Pausing mid-stride to his room, Genji glanced back with a small nod, "Right. He." When McCree didn't nod back, Genji simply shrugged and continued on, his door falling shut with a click. 

When he left, McCree slumped like a puppet getting its strings cut. "I wanna say somethin', but I ain't about to offend ya-"

"He is an absolute brat." 

Perking up a little, McCree nodded, hand motioning at where Genji disappeared to, "Thank Christ, I wasn't sure if you'd agree."

"We are related; I see his behavior more vividly than anyone," Hanzo said, sipping at his tea, "Thank your roommate for him."

"Y'know, I think it may be better for Genji to meet him instead," McCree said, causing Hanzo to raise a brow in surprise. 

"Are you sure your roommate has the patience to deal with someone like Genji? His attention span lasts as long as it takes for food to get delivered or to find a new bed to crawl into."

McCree surprised him by offering up a laugh. "Oh trust me Han, if anyone here won't have enough patience, it's Genji."

-

5:45 AM

One of the most comforting things to Zenyatta may have been the snowfall. 

In Colorado, it was delicate; finely ground white dust that covered everything in a familiar sparkle, reminiscent to the mountains that he had been long separated from. While he missed Nepal, his home no longer lay there, so the feeling of longing was misplaced. Technically. While it never quite left, the realization dulled it as usual, and he continued to drift over the dimly lit flakes. 

In his arms were three boxes of lightbulbs. McCree had asked him to replace them before the living room got pieced together after he'd gotten home from work, so Zenyatta had made his way to the store before heading over. Leaving during the snow was easy for him; The cold was picked up by his sensors, but the lack of temperature differentiation technology made venturing into the cold an easy cross to carry. 

It also meant he was the one who would have to 'brave the chill' to grab the mail, but these were sacrifices he could manage. 

His silver frame had some light from the streets reflecting off of it, his slowly tattering yellow pants rolled up carefully so as not to drag the snow inside. The red sash he wore around his waist was also carefully tucked up, but he had no need for a coat; he would never be out in the cold long enough to merit any attempt to conserve heat.

His mind was preoccupied with trying to imagine what it was like to feel a chill when he realized something was caught on his foot. Said foot was hanging just low enough to brush along the lawn, which he was cutting across, but he had not expected it to get caught on anything. The assumption was snow over grass, and he didn't leave footprints to incriminate himself as it was. 

Reaching down, Zenyatta hooked a finger onto the item, holding it up to the light that was barely reaching it from the street. 

It was a polo shirt, looking silken and decorated with many small gold dots. This caught Zenyatta's interest; dropping the lightbulbs to his lap with a gentle clatter, the omnic let his other hand grip at the material a little more readily as a fingertip brushed against it, watching it shift when it passed over the raised thread.

Each small bump was well defined, and he wondered momentarily how cold the material would be in comparison to the snow. 

Wait. 

"How did you get here?" He asked the shirt quietly, looking around. There were many bumps all around him, now that he was noticing, but well covered by snow. Holding it to his chest as he bent down, Zenyatta next retrieved a pair of pants. After floating over another few feet, he plucked out an oddly long sock. 

The next 8 minutes were spent retrieving a good chunk of someone's wardrobe off of the ground, and by the end of it Zenyatta found his heart filled with absolute delight. 

All of the clothing was just so _interesting_. The fancy dragon covered boxers were perhaps his favorite outside of the first shirt he found, but more than anything he found himself happy that someone loved so many different styles so openly. Silk, cottons, bright patterns, overly stiff pants. None of the clothing matched particularly well from what he knew of fashion, but then again this may only be a fraction of what this stranger may own. 

Slowly drifting inside, lap now full of quickly melting frozen clothes and several soggy cardboard box of lightbulbs, Zenyatta made his way to the laundry room. He had yet to use it, but it seemed like good practice and a good place to leave the clothes in question for their owner to find. 

Upon arriving, Zenyatta drifted to the first washer and was surprised to find a note on it already. 

 

'Genji,  
    I'm so so sooooooooo sorry about your clothing! Amelie threw it out the window and I can't see them through the snow :( Make sure to start switching your clothes to the dryer or she may actually kill you!   
      Love, Lena'

 

The little note was so odd that it earned a soft laugh, Zenyatta finding his fingers tracing the letters. English was always written with so much personality, and the person who wrote this note seemed to be in a rush. Some letters were smudged, and yet the omnic couldn't help but wish to replicate it at some point. To make errors was to be human, and while he did not make them, that did not make him less. It merely made him wonder what it would be like, to work around a mistake for once. 

Hm. 

Setting the note aside, Zenyatta loaded up the washer, only to realize he didn't have soap. Off to the left of the doorway, he noticed several lockers down a short hall, and began to read through names. Lindholm, Amari, Lacroix, Oxton/Peters.... Settling on the one that said 'Shimada', Zenyatta's head tipped. Above the clean writing of 'Shimada, unit #43' was 'Finish your laundry' in French, seemingly written in pen.  

"I am beginning to sense a theme," Zenyatta mused quietly, opening the small cupboard and finding it thankfully somewhat stocked. 

Borrowed soap, what change he had in his pocket, and Zenyatta found himself incredibly interested in the odd character of Genji Shimada that he had pieced together. 

After the water was running and the soap was added, Zenyatta shut off the lights behind him, setting an internal alarm to be back to switch the clothing to the dryer in exactly 42 minutes.

The short distance to his own apartment led him past the infamous launderers door, and a quick glance had him stilling and looking at the door mat. It said 'welcome!' in poorly drawn crayon, with little crayon people cheering on either side. By most standards, it was hideous, but Zenyatta found himself in an impossibly better mood upon seeing it. Perhaps he would have to try to buy one at some point. The same man with laundry on his lawn, notes written in his name and against his name, and dragon boxers also owned this mat. 

After the lightbulbs were replaced, the sun had risen and the dryer had ran its course, Zenyatta took his time folding the clothing carefully. It was odd, considering he very rarely did laundry, but he found himself quite enjoying the whole process and not just the folding. Judging by how steamy the window got when he put one of the towels from the dryer next to it, they were relatively warm; usually he only folded the long cold baskets left by Jesse. His heat sensors could pick up on it as well, but at the same time he could see how it could be enjoyable, to handle the fresh cloth like this. 

"An improvement from the ice for you," He said, happily flicking a small piece of lint away as he flattened the shirt he'd just folded. "Granted, that is pure speculation, but this is a much nicer presentation than before." The shirt made no effort to agree, and Zenyatta found himself oddly melancholy at the idea of leaving the little pile of laundry. 

It was than that he realized he genuinely wanted to keep the shirt he'd originally found, and that alone got him laughing to himself. 

When he dropped the articles of clothing off in front of the Shimada's door, the idea of anything coming from it was already expelled. He had made his peace with not pilfering any of the shirts, and turned his focus onto getting more items moved in. McCree was kind enough to accept him as a roommate, it was the least he could do. 

Several hours of finding homes for his plants, getting dishes put away and setting up a holo-wall passed, before he was surprised to hear the front door open with a greeting of, "Zen!"

"Sitting room," He called back, trying to get the last piece of the metal frame for the holo-wall in place. It didn't seem to want to hook properly, even if he felt like the instructions were fairly user friendly. The sound of footfalls mingled in his mind in tandem with the realization that there were two sets approaching. Allowing himself a soft sigh, he let the metal ease to the ground as the footsteps slowed to a stop. "I apologize, I was hoping to have this completely finished by time time you arrived back. Evidently, not all technology-" 

He stopped mid-sentence as he looked up, registering McCree and a young man with bright green hair, who was wearing the shirt he had freshly laundered just a few hours prior. 

His favorite shirt from the salvaged lawn decorations. 

"Ain't no fuss Zen, the place is already shapin' up," McCree assured with a lopsided grin, metal hand reaching up to pat the strangers shoulder. "Wanted to introduce ya to the neighbors, though Han's too busy fixin' his hair."

"That is for you, you know," accented English was mumbled to McCree, who laughed at that and patted the shoulder again. 

"Man I wish. Anyways, introductions; Zenyatta, this is Genji. Genji, Zenyatta."

"Greetings," Zenyatta offered up, though for a reason he didn't understand, Genji looked nervous to be there. So, he tried to continue, "Tekhartha Zenyatta, at your service." Genji opened his mouth to speak, but was elbowed hard by McCree suddenly, causing Genji to give a small wheeze. This, Zenyatta tutted at. "Jesse, manners maketh man." He wiggled his fingers lightly, trying to tempt Genji to shake his hand. "Go on. You are?"

"...... Shimada Genji," Genji responded carefully, hand gripping Zenyatta's snuggly before giving a curt shake. "You did my laundry."

The suddenness of the statement earned a gentle laugh, Zenyatta pulling his hand away. "Yes, I did. I may not know temperature particularly well, but I can imagine they would not wear well crusted in snow." McCree laughed at this too, but Genji still seemed a mite skittish. 

"You didn't have to," He said quickly, standing up a little straighter. "Really."

".... No, I suppose I didn't," Zenyatta agreed with a kind hum, seeming to consider this, "But finding every piece of clothing was an interesting way to pass the time. Also no time like the present to learn how to do laundry in a machine. Ah, I had forgotten; I hope you do not mind that I borrowed some soap from your locker for it."

"You've never done laundry?" Genji asked, nose scrunching in vague disbelief and watching as Zenyatta shook his head. 

"I have folded it, and rarely handwash, but never done it using a washer. It seems soothing, in it's own right, to handle warm cloth. I can see why people find it enjoyable."

"So you've never done laundry. Ever." Blinking twice, Genji spoke off the cuff, "Isn't it like, programmed into you or something anyways? Why would you need practice?"

"Jesus fuckin' Christ, _Genji_ -" McCree all but barked his friends name, but Zenyatta raised a hand to give him pause. 

"Why would I be programmed that way?" This was asked with genuine curiosity, silver head tipping to the side as he let his hands drop to fold on his lap. 

"Service omnics usually are," Genji offered in way of explanation, crossing his arms over his chest. 

"Hmm. Interesting take, but I am afraid you are mistaken, my friend. There are many omnics, and all are made completely differently."

"Not the ones I've seen."

"And where did you see them?"

"Back home, in Japan." The short answers passed back and forth quickly, Genji seeming slight wound up and Zenyatta as calm as usual, while Jesse looked between them. 

"When you noticed omnics in your birthplace, were they already doing laundry?" 

"It was more like any cleaning," Genji said, eyes darting away as he thought back on it, "Yard work, redecorating, guards-"

"What were their names?"

".... What?" 

"Their names," Zenyatta repeated, tone somehow containing a smile, "It sounds like you saw them often. What were their names?"

This question caught Genji entirely off guard. "They didn't have any," He said, though his tone wasn't quite sure. "They were just service omnics."

"Is there a difference between an omnic who does yardwork compared to another?"

"Well- sure. Some omnics are programmed to be more human, more social," Genji said, missing how heavily McCree winced at that. "They were usually called companions."

"Hm. I see." Giving a small nod, Zenyatta motioned with his hand, beginning to drift towards the kitchen and continuing when he heard both men follow. "These omnics, back where you were from. The 'service' ones."

"What about them?" Genji asked, leaning his hip on the counter as Zenyatta moved to start up coffee. 

"How many were there?"

"I don't know, maybe a few dozen."

"Did you ever say hello?"

Something deep in Genji's chest squirmed, and it made him scoff, "I mean, no-"

"Did you see where they powered down at night?"

"Well no, but-"

"Did you see where they went, should they fall into disrepair?"

".... No, but-!"

"Did you hear them laugh?"

Silence fell, and the sound of the coffee pot giving an ungodly rattle before it began to drip coffee filled the kitchen area. 

".... Have you ever had a job, Genji?"

McCree snorted hard once as Genji visibly bristled, but Zenyatta didn't move at all. "No," he said a little coldly, arms crossing tightly. 

"Then I shall use Jesse as an example. Jesse, what was your strictest job?"

"Military," He answered without skipping a beat. 

"How many people did you work with?"

"My division during basic? 56 other privates. End of basic, 29. During Ops training, 14, end of Ops training, 5."

"Did you know their names?" 

"Everyone that stayed."

"Were you housed together?"

"Open bunks, yeah."

"And sent to the same infirmary, I presume."

"'Course."

"Did you hear them laugh?" 

This earned a snort, "Zen I heard every damn emotion outta 'em. Laughter was rare at points, but it kept us sane."

"And how often did your commanding officer say hello?"

"........ Never, really. When you're outranked, you greet by rank and name with a salute and they don't look your way."

"When you signed up for this job, were you expecting this?"

"Of course. Military is military, I knew what I was gettin' into." After a moment of pause, the point seemed to dawn on McCree. "But a lotta y'all didn't get a choice. Strictest job there is, since talkin' back gets ya shut down."

"Most omnics are produced and shipped without a choice, and should a mistake be made, that omnic can be seen as defective." Turning back to Genji, Zenyatta tipped his head just enough to simulate kindness of some regard. "You insist they did not have names. Is it possible you simply never learned them?"

Silence fell, and it was thick. The coffee pot puttered away, but the noise did little to break the odd tension. "It is possible to dehumanize when you see a being as a mere tool," Zenyatta said, finally breaking it after a solid 15 seconds. "When I was originally purchased, I knew the names of the beings around me, and they knew mine. Though, I will admit, the men we worked for never addressed us by them. I preferred working in the kitchen; I enjoyed cleaning there, even down to the dishes, compared to other tasks. Steeping tea may have been my favorite part. Several of the omnics I worked with preferred the outdoors; Akasha pressed leaves in a magazine she had found, and Ryel collected small stones. We would trade, if either worked in the kitchen or I worked in the garden." A small shrug, and he gave a laugh. "A very different life from the military; I did not mean to compare, Jesse.

"The point I mean to make, is if you continue to label a group of omnics as 'service' omnics, it removed the beings themselves. They have names, preferences, fears, and laughter. They are made every bit the same as any other omnic, companion or otherwise, but the difference that lies there is, and this is an assumption..... You said hello to the companion omnic. You asked their name."

Genji's cheeks flushed heavily before he stood up a little too straight, clearing this throat. "I- I have lost track of time, I have to- I must leave," He said in a rush, giving a nod. "It was nice talking to you."

"Genji-" McCree started with a sigh, but his friend was already moving to leave the kitchen. 

"Mr. Shimada," Zenyatta called out casually, turning to pull down two mugs and not looking as Genji froze mid-stride. He waited, muscles tense as two mugs were poured, the sound of liquid filling the cup as loud as a gunshot. 

Due to the lack of footsteps, he didn't hear Zenyatta approach McCree and hand him one mug. And he nearly jumped out of his skin when cool metal fingers touched his arm. Looking over his shoulder, Zenyatta held the mug to be lofted at eye level, a silent offering. 

Carefully, Genji turned just enough to take it, watching the omnic with think veiled caution. 

"Stay for coffee, with McCree." A small bow of his head, and Genji could have sworn he somehow saw Zenyatta look and smile at his outfit. "I like your shirt." A fuller bow, and Zenyatta drifted past him, heading for the balcony without further adieu. When the door slid shut behind him, Genji turned to look at McCree, expression both mad and embarrassed.

"What the fuck was that?!"

"I think he complimented your shirt-"

"Not that!" Free hand rubbing at his face, Genji's skin felt too tight, "Calling me out on not having a job? The questions? What the hell is his problem?!"

"At one point you said, and I quote, 'they we're just service omnics'," McCree hissed back, coffee mug meeting the counter with a thunk. "He did your fuckin' laundry and you ask if he was programmed to? Who the hell raised ya?"

"I have _never_ met a service omnic like _that_ ," Genji insisted with a wild gesture to the patio, continuing his trek to the front door with his shoulders creeping up to his ears. "That was-"

"Yknow what Genji? I think you've met a thousand like him, but you just never talked to 'em." Opening the door for him, McCree seemed less than enthused. "Also, lil' pointer? When someone does your damn laundry for you? You say _thank you_."

The door fell shut, leaving Genji fuming silently in the hallway and staring at the cheery sign in bianary with a fresh cup of coffee in hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((I kinda typed this in one go so I apologize for spelling mistakes that I missed. Thanks for reading!

The coffee was delicious.

He stood there, sipping at it in the hallway as he tried to not be so pissed at his friend, at his friends stupid metal robot. 

A small, tiny, minuscule part of his mind was mad at himself, but he drowned that out with another drink of hot coffee. 

Genji walked back inside his apartment and caught sight of his sibling leaving the bathroom, with his hair now cleanly tied up with a bright golden ribbon and a fresh outfit. 

"Your attempts at courtship are pitiful," He said immediately, taking another sip from the mug as he tried not to think about the apartment across the way. 

"I left for a mere moment and your mood has soured tenfold. Did McCree kick you out?" Hanzo asked without missing a beat, grabbing the tin of tea leaves he had left out just a while prior. 

"No," Genji said, though it came out with vague petulance. "I left willingly, thank you."

"And you stole one of their mugs in the process." Opening one drawer, then another, Hanzo eventually fished out a small paper bag, now transferring some of the dried tea leaves into it.

"It was given to me!"

"Why would you take their mug in the first place? Usually when I offer someone a beverage, I don't intend for it to leave my home," Hanzo said, though the smile was evident in his voice. "Did you leave in a rush?" 

"......." The resounding silence had the sliding sound of tea leaves cease, Hanzo finally setting the bag down. When he turned around, he saw Genji was still quite pink in the face, holding the mug awkwardly at chest height. 

"Genji?" 

"...... He made fun of me."

"Excuse me?" 

"The omnic! He made fun of me!"

"How so?" 

"He asked me if I had ever had a job! And said that I didn't know service omnics could have names because I never bothered to ask," Genji said in a rush, looking frustrated all over again as he stared at the carpet. 

".... You _haven't_ had a job. Not to mention, you never spoke to any omnic outside of companions the entire time we lived in Hanamura." At these words, Genji looked up with almost a look of betrayal, "Did he mock you for these points?" 

"Well, in a way! You should _not_ ask someone if they have ever had a job, that is _disrespectful_ , and it is not my fault I never spoke to them. No one did! Why would I?" 

"Hm, yes. Why would you show basic common courtesy without having to follow the herd?" The small brown bag was folded over carefully, and Hanzo turned to look at his brother. "Why would you consider him stating the truth to be mockery? Not to mention; how did going over to thank him for doing your laundry lead to these topics?" 

"Okay, you and McCree are a match made in heaven; both of you are so worried about the stupid thank you!" Finally setting the partially empty mug of coffee down, Genji crossed his arms tightly over his chest. 

"As long as you said it, the other topics are more negligible. First impressions can be difficult; I am sure if you two talk more-" When he noticed Genji's gaze meet the floor again, Hanzo paused mid sentence. "You _did_ say thank you, did you not?" 

"Not. Technically?"

Taking in a deep breath, Hanzo's hand reached up so his forefinger and thumb could carefully touch the small ball bearings of the piercing through the bridge of his nose. Exhaling, his eyes closed, "You went over there, and did not bother to say thank you? What happened?"

The relay was broken down of Genji, going over out of curiosity, meeting some levitating omnic who said some odd philosophical things and then asked McCree about his military career before saying Genji had just not bothered to introduce himself to other omnics. 

For many reasons, Hanzo had a hard time believing it was so cut and dry. 

Holding out the small brown bag, Hanzo's voice was more on the frustrated side than it had been in a while, "I am astounded that you managed to grow up the way we did without learning basic manners."

"What?! I just told you what happened! How is this on me?" 

"Go over. Thank him. Gift him tea."

"He's just a machine Hanzo, he can't drink it."

"McCree said he liked to make it. While you were getting dressed, we talked of your poor manners and I was surprised to find that Jesse had the palate for good tea, and where he got it from. See what happens, when you have a civil conversation? You _learn_."

"Okay, first off, you and Jesse do not have 'civil conversations'," Genji assured, doing small airquotes with his fingers before his hand reached out and snagged the small bag. "Second off, I will drop it off with McCree. Not Zenyatta. I never want to talk to him again."

Hanzo nodded at this, but looked entirely unconvinced. "If you meant that, you would not be so upset at what he'd said."

"Why would I want to talk to him again?" The younger asked, as if there were no reasons whatsoever. 

"Because he was right," Hanzo said, making a shooing motion with his hand while Genji internally reeled from the bluntness. "Go. Return the mug, gift tea, and when you get back, we can get lunch and I will teach you the basics of how to thank someone for a favor."

Jaw clenching momentarily, Genji looked at the bag of tea leaves, back at Hanzo, and left without another word. 

The mug stayed on the counter, and a few thoughts went through his head before the older Shimada looked at it, paused, then moved to put it in the sink instead of calling his brother back to remind him. 

-

When there was a knock at the door, McCree and Zenyatta glanced at each other. McCree was out on the patio apologizing for his friends idiocy and smoking a cigarillo, and Zenyatta was busy dragging his fingers to make patterns on the snow covered balcony and assuring that he had taken absolutely no offense. 

McCree moved to stand, but Zenyatta stopped him with a raised hand, already heading inside so McCree could finish smoking. 

When he opened the front door, though, Genji was genuinely one of the last people he expected to see. "I was sure it would be your brother," Zenyatta admitted, speaking before greeting, "Welcome back."

His mouth was already open, but his planned statement visibly died on his tongue as his expression became confused. "Why would you expect Hanzo?" Genji asked, nose scrunching as he glanced back at his own apartment. 

"You said he was fixing his hair for McCree earlier, and Jesse said he planned to stop by to say hello. If the statements he make about him are at all true, I think there may be an underlying pull between the pair of them," He chuckled, looking at the small paper bag then up at Genji again. "Please, come inside."

"No, that's fine, I-" Motioning a thumb back, Genji shook his head, "We are leaving in a moment. I came to drop this off." Holding out the small bag, Zenyatta took it carefully, not noticing his finger touching Genji's hand as he did so. Genji, however, made no secret of this. Hand fluttering away, he went wide eyed, "You're freezing!"

"Am I?" Going still for a second, Zenyatta's shoulders shimmied before he dared to ask, "What's it like?" 

"What's what like?" 

"The cold. I have always wondered." 

"You don't feel cold?" The younger Shimada asked, seemingly surprised and slightly put off by this. 

"Do you feel frequencies?" Zenyatta rivaled back, seeing that tint return to Genji's cheeks at the speed of the response. 

Nodding, the younger Shimada cleared his throat. "Alright, fair. Cold is.... It makes your skin ache slightly. But the air is refreshing, like.... Hm. I really have no way to describe it." Blinking once at that realization, his expression become slightly challenging, "What are frequencies like?" 

Zenyatta seemed to pause, thinking on this momentarily before his hand lifted to his mouth in dawning embarrassment. "I do not know. They simply..... are? I am understanding how unfair it was for me to question that, now that we have traded spaces. I retract the question."

Another beat of silence, and both were surprised when they laughed in unison. It was quiet, a little awkward, but a far leap from ten minutes prior. Motioning at the small bag, Genji said, "It's tea, by the way."

For a reason he didn't quite get, Zenyatta seemed to lock up a little, looking up at him with a warmth he didn't think an unmoving face could exude. "I did not think you would go out of your way to bring me something that gives me so much joy." Suddenly, his shoulders slumped, hands cradling the slightly crinkled bag as if it were something delicate. "I apologize, for doubting you in this way. We had a conversation that left you uncomfortable, and you return with a kindhearted gift. Thank you, Genji."

"Of course," He said with a crooked grin, chest puffing a little at the nice words and how well Zenyatta painted him, "I knew you like it."

"I do," He assured, "It was very kind of you. I hope our earlier conversation did not cause any unrest between us."

"Psh, that? That was just talking, I'm too tough to get bothered by stuff like that," Genji tried to assure, though his tone wasn't convincing. 

"Hm. Maybe so. But it was a conversation that was uncomfortable at your expense, and that was unfair of me to do when had only just met. For this, I apologize as well." When Zenyatta bowed his head slightly, Genji could feel the words bubble up from his chest, bypassing his brain and coming from a place that had never spoken before. 

_He shouldn't have to apologize. He was-_

"Don't apologize! You were right." 

Right? Right?! Why would he say that? Zenyatta wasn't right, he was entirely in the wrong! He had called out Genji's joblessness, called out something that _wasn't his fault_ , and Genji had just- He'd-

The phrase may have startled him, but it quite obviously surprised Zenyatta, who's head lifted back up to look at him. Clearing his throat, Genji broke eye contact and gave a sharp nod, "Thank you, for the laundry, by the way." Even the moment it took to breathe in to speak again felt too long, and his words came out in a rush. "I must go now."

"I hope to speak to you again soon," Zeyatta offered instead of stopping him a second time, waving without getting a goodbye in return and watching as Genji hurried back to his own apartment and didn't even glance back as his door shut. The small interaction was so odd, and by the end of it Genji was back to that nervous behavior he'd shown when he first arrived with McCree, and yet somehow Zenyatta could feel his own soul more at peace. 

He would speak to Genji again. This much, he knew. 

Heading back inside with the small bag, McCree was finally stepping back into the apartment, shaking his hands as if to shoo away the cold before rubbling them together. "Who was it?" 

"A friend," Zenyatta said with happiness in his voice, before perking up. "Would you like some tea?" 

-

Sometimes, Hanzo wished he'd been an only child. 

Lunch was long. 

Lunch was Genji saying how amazing it was that he'd said thank you to Zenyatta, trying to understand why he'd 'lied' and said Zenyatta was right, and thanking Hanzo for the tea idea. The tea that _Hanzo_ had not planned on Genji milking, mind you. 

Lunch was Zenyatta, Zenyatta, Zenyatta. 

His brother may be oblivious, and yes, he may also say and do stupid things in the name of ignorance. Hanzo would be the first to admit that and to call it out the second he saw it. 

Which is exactly what he did. 

"I thought you hated him," He asked eventually when they were on their way home, the sun trying and failing to melt the snow that seemed to never stop falling and warming their backs on the way. 

"I never said I hated him! He was just mean to me. I still can't believe I told him he was right, ugh," He groaned dramatically, arms and torso flopping over as he walked to give a very good impression of a sorrowful man. "Why would I say that?" 

"It's _true_."

"Is not!"

"Then why would you say it?" Hanzo challenged, earning a glare from his brother. 

"Look, I don't know why I said it! It's as if I was possessed or something; One moment I'm the man who is graciously swooping in and giving him a gift after he was mean to me, and the next I'm telling him what he did wasn't uncool? He used witchcraft on me! He made me feel bad for not pitying him or something, I don't know. Maybe it was frequencies, and he can control them to mess with my head." 

"I will consult with McCree about what was actually said, you know," Hanzo pointed out over all of the ridiculous speculation, but Genji seemed unphased. 

"McCree is a liar. Point is, why would I say he was right when I didn't want to?" 

"Maybe your conscience has finally woken up after slumbering for 22 years."

"That was clever, good job. Did you get that written for you?"

"Yes. By Zenyatta, since his words matter the most to you."

Hanzo stumbled as Genji shoved him on his arm and tried to run, and immediately reached his hand out to snag his brothers sleeve and whip him into the snow. 

-

"You said what now?" 

"Oh my god, not you too! How many people think like this?" Groaning, Genji flopped on his couch, looking out at the darkened patio and to the little gold streetlights below. 

"Uhhh, most people with half a brain? That's some elitist mentality you got goin' on!" Lucio's voice was chipper as ever over the phone, and somehow that made his words worse.

Lucio Correia dos Santos, favorite club DJ and close friend, was also against him on this. Seemingly, like the rest of the world. "It's not elitist! A service omnic is a service omnic, even if they happen to be sassy."

"Omnics have been shown to have their own thoughts, personalities, act against 'coding'-" Genji hated he could hear Lucio's vague quotations around that word, "They're still people! I can't believe you told him the omnics you used to know didn't have names."

"They _didn't_! If they did I would have _learned_ them!" 

"Mhm."

"I bet Fawkes would back me up."

"Jamison openly hates omnics, so I don't think you want him on your side dude."

"Look, I'm fine with omnics! Hell, I've _slept_ with omnics, of course I know some can be like people, but-"

"Wow, okay, hold up. There was a _lot_ to unpack there." From the other end of the line, Genji could hear him shifting the phone before Lucio's voice got clearer; he must have been on speakerphone before, but now was getting the DJ's full and undivided attention. "First off, they don't 'seem' like people, they're just people. All of them, not just the ones you have sex with. Second off, sleeping with someone doesn't automatically make you the most understanding guy in the world! Thinking those go hand in hand is really disillusioned of you man. "

"I don't understand," Genji admitted, eyes squinting and making the streetlights in his vision blur.

"You said yourself, you think there's a difference between omnics who work in service and omnics who work as companions."

"There is though."

A sharp inhale from the other side of the phone, and a slow exhale followed. "Wow. Okay, uh- This guy, what's his name?" 

"Zenyatta."

"Right, Zenyatta, okay. So this guy, if he's _just_ some random service omnic, why are you so focused on him?"

"I'm not!"

"You called me to talk about him man." 

"Well, I think he's wrong then! That's not focused, that's knowing that he was wrong on something." 

"Well, don't you think it's kinda interesting that 'just some service omnic' like him has an opinion, talked to you about said opinion, pointed out where he thinks you're wrong, made you think about it, and also made your brain get all guilty from just one convo?" 

Genji shuffled his feet, and let his eyes close. Hanzo was getting ready for work, and he should be getting ready for bed, but he felt wound after this weird day. Why did he care? "I can accept interesting." 

Apparently, that was a step in the right direction. "It is interesting! He sounds like an interesting guy. Now the companion omnics you know, what are they like?" 

Thinking on this, Genji clicked his tongue. "Well first off, they introduce themselves by name instead of just staying silent! They also talk about politics, or world views. They usually have excellent fashion, hold themselves professionally, garner public attention."

"... I'm gonna be real Shimada, that sounds less inviting than this dude. That sounds like a professional actor, not the average dude you meet on the daily."

"One of them was a professional actor," Genji challenged with a note of pride, and got a sigh from his friend. 

"You're missing the point. It's just like humans; some are more suave and can afford nicer things, some can't! Some can get into a lotta damn trouble for talking out of line, and others can introduce themselves freely with a name they've been called their whole lives."

This lent to a pause between them, which Lucio ended up breaking "Look man, I hate to tell you this, but he's right. They're people who work, but instead of getting paid, they get housing and eventually fall out of a contract that they didn't even have any say in! It stopped being legal to sell omnics as workers in the US a while back, so I don't know where he's from, but have you considered asking him about what his experience _as_ as service omnic is like? Because you seeing them when you were younger isn't the same as his experience living through it, and maybe it'll help you figure out that just because he doesn't wear fancy clothes or talk about politics he isn't less."

"Who's to say I even want to talk to him again?" Genji asked, though that tiny voice in the back of his head that had made a fool of him earlier tried to speak up in favor of the idea. 

Lucio just laughed in response to that, not even bothering with an actual answer since they both knew it. "Look man, I got a gig in about an hour I need to get ready for. You comin' out tonight?" 

".... Yeah. Yeah, I'll meet you at your place in 30."

"Come crash the party! See you soon."

Hanging up the phone, Genji was finally left alone with his thoughts for a moment.

Ugh. 

He had spent his entire life thinking that the service omnics he'd seen were simply machines, and in the past day he'd been mocked mercilessly for that thought. 

Well. Maybe not mocked, but that's what it felt like to him.

How was it fair to berate him on this?

_You're not making any effort to change the way you see all of this, _a voice that sounded suspiciously like his own said in the back of his head.__

__He was making an effort, in his own way. Or so he thought._ _

__Wasn't he?_ _

__"-nji." A hand reached out and tapped his forehead, causing Genji to finally look back up at his brother. "Did you not hear me?"_ _

__"No," Genji admitted, shaking his head a little, "Sorry. What did you say?"_ _

__"I'm leaving. Are you going out, and if so, will you be back tonight?"_ _

__"Uh, I don't know. I mean I plan to go out, but returning is optional right now." Shrugging, he watched as his brother went and slipped on his scarf and jacket. "Just grab your keys in case."_ _

__"I will see you tomorrow," Hanzo said in way of goodbye, plucking up the set of keys on the end table next to the door and pocketing them. A two fingered wave, and he was out the door, leaving Genji in the dark apartment._ _

__It took roughly two minutes before he started to get fidgety._ _

__He should go out, listen to Lucio play, have some fun, and stop focusing on this the way he currently was._ _

__Rolling over, he rested his chin uncomfortably on the armrest of the couch, staring at his front door like it had personally wronged him._ _

__Maybe he could just go ask him now, get it out of the way. 'Hey, what was it like to do labor like that, how did you get out, look we talked, all done, goodbye'. Was he powered down right now? Could you wake up an omnic that was powered down by knocking on the door? Did they _need_ to power down, or was that optional for when they were bored? Did they get bored?_ _

__Groaning, he rolled over again before he heard his phone thud to the floor. Wait. Phone! Reaching down, he grabbed the device and swiped a thumb over the sensor at the bottom, unlocking it. The first thing he searched was 'why do omnics power down', and from there it was a bit of a downward spiral._ _

__They powered down because if they ran for too long, their processors could overheat and lead to the destruction of the motherboard (found behind the face plate in most models, older models having them secured in the chest plate). This was a game over. Other parts on an omnic could be replaced, but apparently most omnics had pain sensors that fired non-stop the time that the part was damaged and the in-between of getting it replaced. The pain sensors could affect vision, speech, performance and system functions, to the point of leading to overheating._ _

__Some omnic models couldn't differentiate when they were overheating or just having some basic function errors, so most U.S. omnics had been given an upgrade to run internal diagnostics. It was uncommon outside of the U.S., France and Belgium, however._ _

__"How would they not know?" Genji asked himself quietly, scrolling through yet another Wikipedia page on the subject as his eyes began to looking at the bright screen for so long. Near the bottom, he found his answer._ _

__**_'It is similar to the human body misunderstanding a cough,' it is explained by Jane Belka of Oasis College, one of the world leaders in understanding the functions of the Omnic body and brain, 'It can be the flu, or it can be cancerous; they can sound the exact same and give similar symptoms, but at the same time without a proper diagnosis it can lead to a permanent shut down or destruction of a motherboard. The problem with that is, most omnics have a difficult time getting diagnosed because the fix all for many years was to simply get them shut down. Since previous treatment was to destroy defective models, there is now a lack of engineers and medical professionals for the entire race. Up until the discovery of the Iris Belief and the work of Tekhartha Mondatta, destroying a defective model-'_**_ _

__Genji stopped reading the article, because something about that name caused him to stop mid-sentence. "Tehartha Mondatta," He mumbled, tapping on the name. Tekhartha Mondatta. How did he know that?_ _

__The picture that pulled up gave him pause._ _

__The omnic shown was quite obviously a companion; the matte white paint, the diamond shape of his head light blue dots, the shine to his exposed internal metal and circuitry. Genji had seen many omnics that looked like him, and of course he would be some leader in the soul and religious factions of omnic life with such a standing._ _

__But what caught his attention is that something about this was..... familiar._ _

__When had he heard that name?_ _

__He began to scroll lazily, seeing the drop down options of 'Early Life', 'Spiritual Awakening', 'Religious Doctrine', 'The Iris', Commune in Nepal', and finally, 'Assassination'. "Assassinated?" Giving a low whistle, Genji tapped on it, interest piqued as he read the first two sentences of the brick of information._ _

__**_'Tekhartha Mondatta, a religious leader worldwide to human and omnic alike, was assassinated during a public speech in Kings Row on August 25th, 2073. The sniper was never caught, though common speculation is that it was connected to a terrorist organization under the name of Talon.'_**_ _

__2073\. That was only a year ago. He hadn't even heard about it; Was the religion that big, or his exposure to it that little? Scrolling up a little more, Genji decided to tap on 'Commune in Nepal' next instead of reading on. When he did, he felt the wind get knocked out of his chest._ _

__The picture shown was of Zenyatta meditating._ _

_It can't be him. There's no way he would be known on some religious guy's wiki! This is in Nepal, and Zenyatta is_ here _, in the outskirts of Denver_

__But there was no way it wasn't. The picture was smaller, and blurry, but it was him.The same head lighting and pattern, the same dull metal frame that looked industrial, the slight rusting in some parts that looked to have been scraped off many times before, the same dull brass jaw and bolting. Head bowed, he had many orbs drifting around him, seemingly suspended in mid-air and meditating with Mondatta and another omnic as well. The caption claimed it was the third sibling of the Tekhartha leaders, Reggatta._ _

__Zenyatta, a religious leader?_ _

__He remembered his greeting with Zenyatta earlier, and the name 'Tekhartha' rang quietly in his ears as he looked back on the memory._ _

__Infuriatingly, when he tried to tap on Zenyatta's name, it didn't even pop up with a picture of him on his Wiki page, or a description outside of his relationship with his siblings. It was just a basic connection to Tekhartha Mondatta, and nothing more. Though one little interesting tidbit was under 'Status', it didn't say 'Deceased' like Mondatta, but it said 'Unknown'._ _

__"What the fuck." Sitting up much more suddenly than he'd meant, Genji spent the next two hours reading about Mondatta, and only picking up a few rare facts about Zenyatta along the way._ _

__Mondatta had been a companion, yes, but according to him and been 'enlightened' after 15 years of function. Not just him, but several omnics had experienced this phenomenon, and it had caused a minor revolution around the world, yet all at the same time._ _

__According to reports, omnics that could reach and 'touch the Iris' became invigorated with energy, bathing themselves and those around them in gold light and fixing any internal programming errors. The phenomenon was also speculated to be a side effect of some program called 'the God program', that had nearly caused an Omnic Crisis years back before the threat was neutralized nearly thirty years ago. However, the religion claimed it was contact of the soul with a higher being, refuting the idea of it being chalked up to programming._ _

__Mondatta had fled from Bangladesh, and along the way started to find others who had reached Enlightenment and become outcast. The first two he found were Reggatta, and-_ _

__"Zenyatta," Genji breathed out, still finding this entire thing a little too surreal. The excerpt did little to help._ _

__**_'It is still speculated as to why Reggatta and Zenyatta also gained the Tekhartha title. Before beginning to lead the monastery, Mondatta had not claimed to have a surname, those who had been his clients or partners having no record of it being used. The birth of the name is thought to have been decided between these three beings; according to members of the monastery, the Tekhartha siblings are the only omnics that have shown physical manifestations from touching the Iris. Spectators have claimed to see the growth of golden arms, any visible light sources on the body changing to gold and the ability to heal those around them.'_**_ _

___Growing arms? Healing ability?_ _ _

__To be fair, it was not as if this kind of thing was _completely_ unheard of. Of course, these sort of spiritual touches varied between religions, or lineage. The only personal account of it Genji had ever seen was his own; The Shimada dragons, but that was far from public knowledge and had never been rivaled before on the scale of 'supernatural interventions'._ _

__Genji couldn't seem to stop reading._ _

__**_'Reggatta was reported to have been a transportation omnic in Dubai, only 4 years into their service contract, before fleeing after a public display of touching the Iris and becoming exiled. Zenyatta was recorded to have been a janitorial omnic in Bhutan, responsible for keeping shrines cleaned at Tashichho Dzong and being released from his contract upon contact with the Iris during one morning meditation of the practicing human Monks. Currently, Reggatta is one of the many leaders at the Commune and monastery in Nepal, and Zenyatta left the commune shortly after the assassination of the third Tekhartha.'_**_ _

__That was it. That was all the information he could get, and Genji wanted to rip his hair out at that fact. Why would they not document more of this?! Zenyatta was seen as a spiritual leader? He'd left willingly? He had been a worker at a monastery before he became one of the first Omnic monks in history?_ _

__He had reached spiritual nirvana?_ _

__He had a soul?_ _

__The sound of the front door opening got him jumping half a foot in the air, turning to look at his brother and seeing him already standing at a defensive position upon entering and seeing someone on the couch. "What are you doing?" He asked after a moment, eyes squinting to look into the darkened apartment at the face of his sibling that was only illuminated by his phone screen. "I thought you were going out."_ _

__"I didn't think you'd be back so soon," Genji admitted honestly, locking his phone and letting the screen go dark. Be casual._ _

__"I've been gone for almost four hours," Hanzo pointed out, slipping off his coat and scarf while looking at Genji suspiciously. "Have you moved since I left?"_ _

__"Yeah," he lied poorly, wiggling his phone to check the time. 1:52 A.M. Lucio hadn't even texted him, but that, he couldn't be mad at. He got distracted easily, so plans often fell through._ _

__This itself was case and point._ _

__As Hanzo hung up his jacket and scarf, Genji looked down at his phone, staying uncharacteristically quiet as he felt his eyes sting at the chance to relax from the stark screen._ _

__He'd spent four hours learning about omnics, reading up on their inner workings, finding out about the main religion, and then discovering the story of the Tekharthas._ _

__Why had he done any of that in the first place? Because the guy washed his laundry?_ _

__Tekhartha Zenyatta had managed to become interesting, and he had no idea what to do with that information._ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((So this AU is kinda a total bastardization of the lore and stuff? None of the characters are involved with Talon, and Overwatch didn't come to being for the lack of the Omnic Crisis which was avoided from the destruction of the God program. I'll talk about it more later, but for now I hope you enjoy it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Genji has the emotional capacity of a cucumber and a fuse the length of a cat hair

Genji was being weird. 

Hanzo was used to this fact, in most ways. Usually it presented itself as his younger brother refusing to eat anything but yogurt when he was unhappy, or watching movies in Spanish, a language he didn't speak, with Japanese or English subtitles. There were very few ways for him to be weird that would actually earn worry from his brother, and yet he'd still managed that. 

How? 

"You haven't spoken all day." 

This was said while Hanzo continued to push food around on his plate, having actually decided to cook for once and trying not to be further concerned by his brothers lack of appetite. Usually Genji ate like a man starved, and even now his fork just shifted the seasoned meat on his plate as his gaze flicked up to look at his sibling. 

"Uh huh," He responded eloquently, giving a little nod. Clearing his throat, he tried to offer a small smile, "I'm just thinking."

"Of?"

"I dunno, stuff."

Eyes narrowing, Hanzo paused a moment. ".... Stuff."

"Yeah, stuff," Genji replied, sounding a mite defensive as he sat up a little straighter, "What, is that a crime?" 

"I haven't heard you be silent outside of a sore throat in the course of our entire lives."

"Yeah, well, you don't know everything Hanzo! I'm just thinking!" Genji insisted, expression pinching momentarily. After giving an almost imperceptible glance towards their front door, it finally clicked in the elders mind. 

Him staying in last night to sulk, his silence during the day, the lack of wanting to leave. He was probably worried about running into Zenyatta.

"You're still thinking of Jesse's roommate, aren't you." It wasn't a question. Watching Genji visibly bristle, Hanzo sighed deep in his chest, "There is no way you can still be mad at him-"

"I'm not even mad at him!" Genji snapped, stiff in the shoulders and slowly going pink in the face, "I'm just thinking, that's it, period, nothing else. It's not even about Zenyatta, stop being so nosey." 

Silence fell, for a few moments. Genji had been being quiet all day, constantly reading something on his phone and looking over his shoulder like he was going to get caught doing something wrong. Though from the small bits that Hanzo had managed to catch a glimpse of (He _wasn't_ nosey) it looked like it was all about some monastery in Nepal, which he couldn't piece together as something worth hiding. 

He could, however, tell that Genji was lying through his teeth. "..... Did you ever return their mug?" 

"What?" Genji asked while not actually listening, pushing his plate away and pulling out his phone. He obviously was aiming for the conversation to end immediately, his usual prickly defense up and active. 

"Their mug. You brought over _my_ gift of tea, but you left the mug here. It would make a good peace offering, if you want to smooth things over." 

That earned a pause, before Genji dropped his phone next to his plate and all but scrambled from the table to get into the kitchen while Hanzo put effort in not sighing.

The mug. The mug!! He'd forgotten about that stupid mug!

All day, he'd been worrying about how he could find a casual way to start a conversation. It wasn't like he wanted to run right over and just talk to the omnic, but. In some ways, he did? He had never had so many questions for one person before, and Zenyatta had gone from a slightly rude robot to one of the most confusing people he'd ever heard of. 

How long had he lived in the monestary? Did he do work around the world when he was a religious leader? How come there was so little information about his own work but tons sited for both his siblings? Something online had mentioned he didn't like the attention, but as the leader of a whole _religion_ , how could he _not_?

That thought had probably given him the most pause, and had led to an answer that made something in his gut twist uncomfortably. 

He was slightly jealous of Zenyatta. 

There were people all around the world that followed this religion! That looked to him as a leader, human or omnic, and he had run away from it. It looked, at least from the news reports, like he'd left after his brother had died, and that thought alone had quelled some of the confusion and jealousy in his heart. 

Yet still, he didn't understand it. In its own way, it was running away from a responsibility meant for him!

The reason he didn't relay any of this to Hanzo was because his brother could easily say the same thing about their syndicate. Of course they weren't comparable to Genji, but that wasn't the point; They were comparable to Hanzo. 

Digging through the cupboards, Genji made a small 'aha' sound as he found the mug he'd been drinking from. It was some ugly chipped thing, looking like it came from an old woman's house and had a bear on it that said 'Without coffee I'm un-BEAR-able'. 

Genji found himself momentarily woeful that he had to lose such a fine piece of dishware.

Pulling it down from the shelf, he realized that he'd basically just proven his brother right, but also wasn't able to admit that he had helped him just yet. Instead, he cleared his throat, standing a little straighter, and dared to ask, "So how was work last night?" 

"I resent you," His brother responded without missing a beat, already back to lazily eating the remainder of his food and not bothering to look back at Genji. 

"What, I thought you'd like talking about McCree! You complain about him enough."

"I do not like talking about him, and there is nothing to talk _about_."

"Hey, you know what? Now that you guys are neighbors, I bet you could carpool! It would keep you out of the cold." Watching his brother stiffen at this idea, Genji's grin stopped being so genuine and turned a little smarmy. "Plus, I'm sure you'd love being in a small space for the time it takes to get to the bar."

"Genji," Hanzo said, voice low and a fake sort of calm people had heard before they were murdered by his hand, "If you so much as bring that idea into his mind-"

"Come and stop me!" The second the words were out, Genji knew he had less than five seconds before he was put in a chokehold. Bounding towards the front door, he slammed it hard and heard Hanzo butt into it, his next two steps aiming for McCree and Zenyatta's door and banging on it like a man in danger. "Open up, open up, openupopenupopenup-" He pleaded, hearing his own front door swing open and his brother staring him down with the fury of a thousand suns. 

Genji was the main reason he had to see McCree every day as it was, and his brother only worked to get him around the cowboy impossibly more. Not like McCree needed further reason, but once he considered it for a moment, Hanzo would lose his daily walks forever.

Pressing his back to the door of apartment #44, Genji tried to offer a complacent smile, back shifting the cheery little sign that he now knew was in Nepalese. "Come now, brother, it was only a joke!"

"Genji-" Hanzo growled out, beginning to stalk forward only to freeze for a reason Genji didn't know. 

Well, one that he quickly found out. 

The door behind him opened and sent him sprawling to the floor, leaving him looking up at McCree, who'd obviously been awake for less than five minutes. "Genji?" The cowboy asked with genuine confusion, voice thick with sleep and hair tousled. 

"Ah, Jesse, you're awake!" Pushing himself to stand like he hadn't even fallen embarrassingly, Genji looked over at his sibling, who was seemingly frozen in place. His overwhelming crush on McCree was obvious in moments like this, and luckily it gave his trickster side its second wind. Putting a hand on Jesse's ratty pajama tee shirt to rest between his shoulders, Genji smiled. "I was just mentioning to Hanzo what a brilliant idea it would be if you two started a carpool! You work the same shifts, and you work at the same place. Smart, right?" 

"Well uh... I mean-" Frowning in thought, McCree's expression turned considerate, head tipping, "Actually, Genji, you may be-"

"Good!" Shoving McCree hard, he was surprised by the indignant sound McCree made as he stumbled forward, the door slamming shut behind him and Genji daring to lock it. Sure, McCree probably had a key, but he was wearing boxers and a Bob Ross tee shirt. He didn't look prepared to get locked out of his apartment. "You two talk about that, have fun!"

"Genji!" A booming knock rang on the door, McCree sounding much more awake and much less amused. "Let me into my damn house!"

"I uh- Can't!" Looking around for a moment, Genji looked at the bolt on the door and reached up, grabbing it. Jiggling it, he tried to make his tone convincing. "The lock is broken!"

"Sounds as phony as a three dollar bill, you damn cretin." Man, his accent got thicker when he was mad.

"Can I be of assistance?" 

Genji actually jumped a little at the soothing voice behind him, turning to see Zenyatta floating over with the peace of a person who _wasn't_ barging in on an intruder and a locked out roommate. Unlike the other times he had seen him, Genji noticed that this time, he had what looked to be large orbs floating peacefully around his neck, suspended just like he was. 

Genji recognized them from the pictures he'd seen. 

"Uh-" Now, Genji was panicking. A mad McCree, or mad Hanzo, he could deal with. Use them to distract each other and tada, he was out of the judgement zone! But he didn't know Zenyatta, and fully expected him to go let his roommate in. Leaning over, he whispered, "I locked him out. Kinda. I said the lock is broken."

Receiving a one tone hum in response, Zenyatta's head tipped to show his surprise. "May I ask why?" he whispered back. 

"He and my brother have the romantic prowess of a head of cabbage," Genji said, and that much was true. "I'm trying to get them near each other for longer. McCree isn't even wearing pants; my brother should take pity and bring him into our place." 

"Genji! Open the door immediately!" This time it was Hanzo, banging on the door twice as well and sounding like gunfire compared to the quietness of Genji and Zenyatta's conversation. It earned both gazes, before Zenyatta began to drift over, and Genji's heart sank a little. 

So much for a useful diversion from Hanzo's scrutiny. 

Clicking a tongue he didn't have, Zenyatta reached up to the lock, and turned it with a sudden jolt, the whole bar snapping off. The younger Shimada's eyes went wide as Zenyatta put a hand on his chest, metal fingers clicking, "My my, what a silly mistake! Jesse, it looks as if the lock is genuinely broken. We will have to call someone to repair it before you are able to enter once more."

"Oh for-" Another thud, but this time it sounded like McCree dropping his head to the door. "Are you for real Zen?" 

"I'm quite sure of it, yes," Zenyatta insisted, turning over the handle he'd broken off in his hands before looking over his shoulder at Genji. It was at that moment Genji could practically see his conniving expression, even if his face stayed the same. "Would you like me to push the broken off part under the door as evidence?" 

"Nah, I- I trust you." His sigh was slightly muffled, before McCree stood back up. "Genji, I hope you know, I'm gonna have to kill you for makin' a man get stuck in a hallway in his boxers. That just ain't civil."

"Come, you can stay in our home while you wait," Genji could hear Hanzo say from a short distance away, voice sounding softer through the walls and door.

They both made commentary, but without yelling, their voices were too muffled to hear. Eventually, it died away with the sound of another door shutting, and Genji felt himself go slack. 

Holy shit, Zenyatta had totally saved his ass.

"Is that my mug?"

Blinking once, he looked down at his hand, mug in a death grip and tiny bear face smiling up at him. Looking at Zenyatta, Genji's expression turned as sheepish as he felt, holding it out. "Uh, yeah. I was going to return it and... plans changed." 

"Yes, I can see that." Zenyatta, to his credit, traded Genji the broken off part of the lock, and the second he held it up to look at it both of them made eye contact and began laughing. Not awkward, like last time, but genuine laughter over how silly the situation was. 

It was the first time someone had just blindly taken Genji's word, and it was nice. Sure, he'd had his own motive, but his own motive was to talk to Zenyatta and now they really didn't have much of a choice of an alternative. 

Five minutes passed, and Zenyatta called a repair man while Genji sat on the couch in the living room, gaze flicking between the holoscreen on their wall, the snow spotted balcony outside, and the absolute mismatch of decorations on the walls. It was cozy, it its own way. Much better than he knew how to do, though much worse than his old decorators knew how to do. 

"Well," Zenyatta started, coming over and surprising Genji by moving to actually sit down properly on the chair across from him, "The repairman is not able to come out due to bad weather. According to him and several news reports, we are to get a blizzard in the next half hour or so. I do believe that means that Mr. Morrison will close down the bar, which means McCree will not work tonight so there is no rush to get him clothing. That also means that we are not able to leave until the weather settles and the repairman can come out sometime tomorrow." 

Oh. Oh fuck, he was stuck in an apartment with some weird, omnic monk that could grow extra arms and snap a deadbolt lock like breaking a candy cane. He'd wanted to talk to him, sure, but to be abandoned with him? That was something entirely new to the plan. 

Both of them stopped talking for a moment or two, and it was only when they were both completely silent that Genji could hear the spheres around Zenyatta's neck giving the quietest ringing sounds. Like tiny bells. "What are they?" He asked before he could stop himself, surprised by his own bluntness and wording as he motioned to the orbs. 

Zenyatta, for what it was worth, didn't seem to mind any of that. Instead, he reached up to get into the spheres orbit, shifting them blindly and pulling one away from the group without actually grabbing it. Like the others, it continued to hover but this time just barely above his palm. "These are my mala. They were made for me, back home, but I was seperated from them on my flight. I just recieved them this morning." 

"Back home?" Genji pushed softly, and much to his surprise, Zenyatta gave an absolute nod.

"Yes, back home in Nepal. I am new to the United States. It was more difficult to find a job than I had been hoping, yet I was blessed with an opportunity from Mr. Reyes and McCree." 

"Oh, Nepal, interesting," Genji said as if he hadn't spent the last day learning everything he could about the omnic. It was surprising, that Zenyatta wasn't as cagey as he thought he would be; After fleeing Nepal, wouldn't he be trying to keep it under wraps? Would he be ashamed? "Why did you leave Nepal?" 

"I was shunned from my monastery," Zenyatta said like he was discussing the weather, and the words were so shocking it made Genji physically start a little. 

Wait. That wasn't right. 

That couldn't be right!

"That doesn't make any sense," Genji said, not noticing amusement building in Zenyatta's posture as he folded his hands together. 

"Pray tell."

"What do you mean shunned? You were one of the people running it!" The second he said it, Genji felt his face go warm. That wasn't what he'd meant to say. That was much more incriminating than what he'd meant to say, but damn if he hadn't. 

Judging by the shrug and hum Zenyatta gave, Genji had some odd feeling he already knew the poorly kept secret now. "We shared our responsibilities," He explained calmly, and to this Genji's nose scrunched up. "Does that not seem right to you?" 

"No," The Shimada admitted, looking away. He considered not elaborating, but he couldn't help himself. "Youre one of the top three teachers! It was you and your siblings, right? They can't kick you out, you helped build it!"

"The building of our monastery was through the Iris, all of us doing our part to find a place where we could worship and learn in peace," Zenyatta corrected, looking at the man who had both broken into his house and was now pouting on his couch. "I was at no higher place than my siblings or my fellow monks, and refuted any idea that I was; this is the reason I was asked to leave." 

Shaking his head at that, Gen'ji's expression pinched further, "But. Why? That doesn't make any sense."

"I was adverse, to the way that lessons were being given. My siblings both viewed the Iris as something that could be taught to the masses. Through seminars, or meetings. Of this, I did not agree. Learning of the Iris, of any life changing experience, should be given personally. It should allow a person to ask questions as the arise, to look inside themselves and discuss what they see. To the masses, this self inflection can lead to stunted growth." Giving a little hum, Zenyatta motioned behind Genji. "The plants over there, you see them yes?" 

Craning his neck to turn around, Genji could barely see them. So, when he saw Zenyatta already drifting over to them, he stood and made his way over as well. Most of them were still very young; some where mere sprouts, while others had more bulk to them. There were on the upside of twenty plants, some looking to be small blooming flowers and others being succulents. The array of color wasn't amazing or anything, and all of them looked sort of. Bland. "They're uh-" Trying to be polite but not finding the right wording, Genji shrugged, "They-"

"They have just started their lives," Zenyatta said, tone soaked in pride. Reaching out, his fingertip brushed one of the brand new tiny leaves in one of the pots, half of them underneath what looked to be warming lights. "So far, they have already done so much work. Broke through their seed, sprouted through the soil, and started to take a form that we could see. All this effort, with so little to show for it." 

That was a new way to look at it. Giving a little shrug and nod, Genji looked at them for another second or two before looking away, "I mean it's cool."

"They are very much like people."

"..... How?" 

"When a human is born, their work starts. It is usually things that people do not see as hard work; growing teeth, learning to speak, learning to walk. Learning to hurt, to love, to cry. With omnics, it is figuring out how to function in a world that you are expected to navigate with perfection, not being allowed any fear or confusion. Before someone is reborn in the Iris, they have all this work that never gets properly accredited. I have had many pupils, who have looked at their journey as a life that is now dead and gone. In reality, it was a seed; It provided strength to get them to push through their situations, to end up breaking the surface and coming to us with the hope of finding sunlight. Yet when you see too many of them at once, it appears to be the average. The effort is lost upon the idea that everyone faces it, though every journey is worth care and attention." Plucking up the small pot he was looking at, Zenyatta held it out to Genji. "Does that help?" 

Looking at the omnic and back at the plant, Genji gave another nod. That actually did make sense, but not in a way that he would have ever thought on on his own. "So what does that have to do with teaching?" 

"Well," Zenyatta started, fully passing Genji the small plant and watching as he pulled it carefully close to him, "You can take care of a garden using an automatic sprinkler and heating lamps. But when one of the plants is ill, or needs pruning, and no one person comes to make sure that plant lives.... That plant will die instead. Many will live, but that one will die. A mass teaching can work, but if you want to save the souls who need it most, you need someone who will tailor their teachings to that person. People learn in different ways, emotions react their own pace. A crowd of 30 may find peace in a spoken word, but two or three may feel as though they have fallen behind due to a lack of proper communication. These doubts become a plague in the mind, and blossom discord between their fears and their teachings in their hearts.

"Cookie cutter lessons are good and helpful to some, but to others they are not. Without personalizing a meeting with one of my pupils, I am falling into a folly as old as time; I am forgetting the soul I am aiming to sooth for the sake of convenience." For not having lungs, Zenyatta gave a convincing sigh, his head ducking. "I tried to insist on this idea to my brother, Mondatta." A glance over, and there was that sense that he had some slight amusement, outside of his obvious sadness. "I am sure you know of him?" 

".... A little," Genji grumbled, now suddenly much more focused on the plant in his hands than meeting that gaze. 

"He was a wonderful teacher, and spread the word of the Iris around the world. People came from everywhere for his tutelage, but in some of them I could still sense unrest." The orbs around his neck shifted uneasily as he continued, no longer looking at Genji but off into a memory. "For my one student, he would take on 30. The ratio made sense, due to how many people we had joining us daily, but when I told him they needed more _time_ , he disagreed. I had asked him to avoid going to Kings Row, to discuss a different way for us to deal with the mass patronage and making sure that our students were finding enlightenment, but he politely declined my offer." 

"Kings Row," Genji repeated, feeling a flash of some emotion as he remembered the obituary he'd read through for the religious leader. "Right." 

"After that, I..... Lost my will to work on teaching." This time, Genji watched the omnic's gaze shift down to his hands, thumbs pressing together in an arc. "A soul was now lost in a way I could not ease, and that idea alone caused me much grief. For it to be the soul of my best friend and mentor was unbearable. My final students left, and my younger sibling, Reggatta, asked me to fill Mondatta's place. This, I could not do. It did not feel right for me, and when this was explained, I was asked to leave." 

"So you got kicked out for not wanting to take over?" Genji asked, and slowly, he watched Zenyatta come back from wherever his mind had gone. Before a full second passed before he was back to that inquisitive expression, the sadness that had hung on his frame now gone. 

"They needed a leader, and my being there would be a deferral as one. I could insist on staying, but I would have to take on students if I did so, the influx doubling after Mondatta's death. I was asked to leave, to find myself and find the meaning of our message better due to my standing opinion on our methods. I rationalized it myself as perhaps finding someone out in the world who needed a gentle hand to guide them for once, to show that there is validity to the claim that one-on-one forms a stronger person in the end." For a reason Genji didn't understand, Zenyatta seemed to pause at that statement for a while. ".... You read about me." 

A deep inhale, and Genji had to look away. "Okay, yeah, _kinda_. It wasn't like it was on purpose!"

"You accidentally began reading about your neighbor?" Zenyatta asked, tone amused. 

"No, I began reading about if omnics needed sleep, thank you," Genji argued back, though that in and of itself was somehow sillier. 

"Why would you be looking into that?" 

"Because I wanted to go bother you but I didn't know if you'd be awake, and if you'd wake up to a door knocking." 

"And why did you want to bother me?" 

"Because I wanted to ask you stuff, I don't know!"

"And why did you want to ask me stuff?" 

"Because I was curious about you! What's with the third degree here?" Sounding as annoyed as he felt, he tried to cross his arms, but the small plant he was holding didn't lend to that. Instead, he finally looked back at Zenyatta, and was even more peeved to see that he was shaking with silent laughter. "Stop laughing!"

This made him start laughing harder, actual chortles leaving him and his feet kicking midair slightly as he wrapped his arms around his stomach. The sound got Genji red in the face, but not just out of anger, and he wanted to throw up his hands and leave. 

Too bad he was still holding the little plant, and didn't want to jarr it. 

God damn it. 

"I am so sorry," Zenyatta finally got out, though it didn't seem too genuine since he was still laughing, "I am just delighted by that prospect. You were so filled with disinterest and unhappiness the first time you visited. To find that it has changed to curiosity is something beautiful."

"Okay, hold up, I didn't say _anything_ about-"

"Say, no. Reading the energy in a room is not so much of a task as some may think, Genji." The way he said his name felt like he was chiding him, and Genji puffed up a little at that. "Exactly," Zenyatta continued, "I can feel your emotions radiating off of you. Right now, it is indigence. Before, it was embarrassment. And the first time, it disinterest and unhappiness. I must say, I am glad it has moved forward and away such constant negativity."

"You're dramatic," Genji accused.

"Maybe so. I also happen to be a monk. The spiritual side of life is vastly important, and being in tune with emotions is key to this. I think I may just be in practice." 

"Maybe I'm just an easy person to read!"

"Does that change that you've felt that way?" 

Clearing his throat, Genji held out the small plant, deflecting, "Do you want this back?" 

"No."

"No?"

"No. You gifted me tea, remember?" Motioning at the tiny potted plant, Zenyatta seemed to think this was an entirely fair trade. "This is my gift to you."

Looking down at the 'gift', Genji's nose scrunched yet again. It was the smallest of sprouts, barely peaking out from the damp soil and looking pathetic compared to the more sturdy succulents still on Zenyatta's stand. "I don't know anything about plants," Genji said in response to the offer, "And that was kinda expensive tea." _Especially compared to some plant,_ Genji fought not to tack on, biting his tongue instead.

For a reason he didn't know, Genji could swear he could see Zenyatta raise his eyebrows. But he didn't have eyebrows and his face was made of metal, but perhaps it was a trick of the light as the omnic tipped his head back minimally. "If you do not know, and do not _wish_ to know, then you may let it die. If you wish to learn instead, I could always be of assistance. This particular plant needs watering once every two days, just until the soil is dampened fully, and to be put in view of the sun. I would reccomend against putting it in any windowsills at the moment; the cold will kill it." 

Genji had pretty much already decided that it wasn't really worth the effort to try to keep it alive, since he didn't really care about plants, but he noticed Zenyatta tip his head forward a touch to look down at the plant. "It's name is Vikāsa."

Brow furrowing, Genji in turn tipped the little plant a little to look down at it too, then looked back at the omnic. "It has a _name_?"

"Well you didn't _ask_ ," Zenyatta replied a little too easily, and Genji felt his face heat up tenfold as he was embarrassed all over again by the monk. God damn it. 

"Vikāsa," He repeated, the word not rolling as easily through his accent as he internally sighed. It had a name. Which meant that Zenyatta, being such a weirdo, would probably ask about it. If he didn't keep it alive, then all that talk earlier about helping people or whatever was proven to fall on deaf ears, and that wasn't going to happen! While he may not get the spiritual crap, he wasn't going to be proven as ignorant again. "I'll keep it alive, just you watch."

"I would love to see you be proven right," Zenyatta promised, finally beginning to drift back towards the living room. "Now, you are currently a guest and slight intruder in my home, and I would like to watch a movie. Would you like popcorn?" 

Thinking on this for a moment, Genji carried Vikāsa with him as he walked into the living room as well, nodding. "Yeah. Got any tea?" 

-

The night was one of surprises. 

It turns out that most of the pre-loaded movies on Zenyatta and McCree's holoscreen were old spaghetti westerns, so the pair of them watched a movie called Tombstone and made commentary instead of making the effort to stream something. 

When Zenyatta managed to mimic Doc Holliday's smooth accent perfectly for a solid five minutes, Genji found himself laughing so hard his stomach hurt. 

Zenyatta was _funny_. 

This came as a realization, after the omnic had to call in to the garage and let Reyes know he couldn't make it out for the evening. The phonecall didn't take a long time, but while he was gone Genji felt his mouth begin to relax away from the smile it had been in since the first few moments of the film. 

It was unusual for him not to be the main jokester, yet it didn't seem like Zenyatta was unhappy with the arrangement of taking the title for the night. 

Then again, he didn't actually _smile_ , so that made it hard to gauge. 

After that point, Genji started to pay closer attention. A particularly well timed rib at one of the actors crooked mustaches, Zenyatta did laugh, and Genji saw his shoulders pull up and bounce. His head lilted to the side as he let the chuckle roll through him. No mouth to smile with, but he relayed one with his body language as well as anyone else. It didn't come out as mechanical as he would have expected, but nothing about him seemed necessarily mechanical anymore. 

He was still an omnic, but different from all other omnics Genji had met.

It had seemed silly when McCree said it, but Genji could get it now. Kinda. An omnic was an omnic, after all.

Before too long, the blizzard hit, and outside of the apartment was blanketed in snow nigh instantly. Genji watched it through the patio door with a bit of morbid fascination, not enjoying the thought of trekking through a blizzard just to be able to go enjoy the day, but also finding an odd happiness in the vibrancy of the snowflakes that were nearly flying sideways from the wind.

That was when Zenyatta finally gave him tea, and sipping the floral mixture while looking at the violent storm was so perculiar and quaint. 

Until the power went out. 

It left the pair of them in relative darkness, some recessive light pouring in from all the open windows and illuminating the space enough for Genji to make out Zenyatta's form puttering about. He disappeared down a darkened hallway before coming back a moment later, holding a candle that offered a glowing beacon in the pitch. 

When he spoke, it surprised Genji further than his lack of worrying about the power. 

"Would you like to meditate with me?" 

Glancing back at the snow, up at the lights that were no longer on, then back at Zenyatta, Genji stopped mid-sip on his tea. He had to be kidding. "Meditate?" 

Zenyatta just nodded instead of explaining, because really the request was self explanitory. It was something Genji hadn't done in many years, and something he had also never quite developed a patience for. 

But with the snow blocking one exit and a broken door blocking the other, his phone in his own apartment and the holoscreen off, Genji shrugged. Nothing to lose. "Why not?" 

Perking up momentarily, Zenyatta gave a quicker nod, motioning for him to follow before cradling a hand around the flame to avoid putting it out. "Come." 

Down the hall and into the first bedroom, and Genji was left to be again surprised. 

Zenyatta's room was so _barren_.

Sure, that was coming from a guy who had slept on a mattress in the middle of an empty room, but that didn't change the fact that it was too! All he could see were some scrolls hung up with more Nepalese, a few soft looking cushions to sit on, the floor in here hard wood instead of the plush carpeting that existed in his own home. One corner had incense that were not lit, and in the windowsill there were a few candles that looked to have been lit by Zenyatta already. 

The monk settled down to hover above the first of the two pillows, and had to lean and reach to grab the other and drag it over to be across from him. Having misjudged the distance, he had to lean extra far and wiggle his middle finger, just barely catching the corner of the material and dragging it over. 

It was so human. 

Shaking his head a little, Genji plopped down with little care for the soft cushion, looking at Zenyatta as he settled with his legs crossed and his hands coming to rest on his knees. The backsides faced down, forefinger and thumb forming a lazy circle as his other fingers curled slightly in a resting position. "Would you like me to walk you through it?" 

"I know what to do here," Genji promised, because yeah, he may be bad at it, but it couldn't be that different than when he used to meditate as a child. 

"Excellent. Would you like incense?" 

Again, Genji waved a hand. "Nah, I'm okay. It's not gonna work well for me anyways." Shifting his foot to tuck it under himself, Genji copied Zenyatta's pose, perhaps a bit waggishly. 

"And why would you say that?" Zenyatta questioned, seeming to watch the other. 

"Never got it quite right, but it'll kill the time," He said it with almost an air of pride, that he was awful at taking the time for self inflection and relaxation.

Genji expected the monk to try to insist he try harder or something. He'd been forced to do it for years, and had gotten in trouble constantly over how easy it was for him to goof off and ignore his teachings. Instead, he watched Zenyatta give a gentle shrug, head tipping down as the omnic went silent. Chin meeting his chest with a soft tap, The minimal tension eased out of Zenyatta's body, and his mala shifting from their close slow orbit to move outwards. 

They unfurled until they were circling around his upper torso, beginning to dance around him and lighting up with a soft golden glow. They would bounce randomly, giving off a soft chime and making Genji watch in rapt fascination. It made the room feel like it was bathed in the gentle sunlight of a new spring, not shrouded in darkness by a ruined power supply from the snowstorm raging outside.

He had seen such a transformation from something as simple as lighting. 

Meditating felt impossible when he was so distrait, the soft chimes helping his shoulders sink to a relaxed position while he continued to watch the orbs bounce. Usually, he felt as if he had to always be doing _something_. Watching TV, talking, reading, writing, doodling, typing, _anything_. When was the last time he had taken time just to separate himself from it all? 

Well. By all accounts, never really. Distractions made for a more fun life, in his mind, and like hell if he wasn't going to live by that. Genji had spent too long brushing off the enforcement of distinct use of every hour in the day, and he enjoyed doing what he pleased when he pleased. 

That may also be why he had such an aversion to responsibility, but that was something else to think of at a different time. 

_Not to mention a quiet mind thinks of things a distracted one doesn't_.

That much was also true; there was much in the past that Genji had absolutely no interest in looking back on. He would mourn his parents on the days of their death, celebrate his families birthdays, and ignore everything he had left behind in Hanamura. He missed his friends, his favorite arcade. His favorite ramen shop, the little side passages that he could use to sneak into his own home. All of it was still there in his memories, even if it was destroyed or dispersed now and shadowed by the memories of all of the unsavory things left as well. 

Being without these little luxuries was fine and dandy until he truly looked back at it. 

It wasn't until the chiming stopped that Genji's eyes fluttered open, mind finally coming back to the now. 

Wait. 

"Why'd you stop?" He asked a little blearily, blinking and looking up at Zenyatta. The power was still out, but the omnic's face was still highlighted by the candles placed around the room. 

"I was going to end our session, but it seems to have done you well," Zenyatta said, a tone of happiness and wonder in his voice. "Why Genji , did you accidentally mediate?"

"No!" He said immediately, rubbing at his eyes. "If anything I feel asleep."

"Mmmm, and what did you dream of?"

"My home. I miss it." The admission made his chest tighten since he did not originally intend to admit that, gaze not lifting after his hands fell from his eyes. "I was just remembering it."

"Reflecting on it?"

"..... Kinda?"

"That sounds closer to meditation than it does to a nap. Do you think doing it of your own accord helped you relax?"

Genji thought on this, but again insisted, "It was a nap. Seriously."

"..... Would you like to do it again sometime?" Zenyatta's question sounded tentative, and coming from the omnic who usually spoke whatever he was apparently thinking, this felt like a slight shock. Why was he nervous to ask that? 

Better yet, _why would he ask it in the first place? What did he want in return?_

"It's not like you even get anything out of it," Genji said in way of explanation to himself, almost defensive sounding even to his own ears. "Why would you want that?" 

"You are questioning why would I enjoy having good company while meditating?" Zenyatta asked, and Genji rolled his eyes. 

"That's not how it was phrased-"

"No, that is not how _you_ phrased it." So suddenly, Genji went from slightly defensive to actively annoyed. What was with the word games?

He finally looked up at Zenyatta, eyes narrowing. "Why does that matter? I'm asking why you offered." 

"Your perspective on a situation changes it greatly. Why would my want to have you join again end with personal gain? I did not ask with my gain in mind; I asked with yours." Hands slipping to fold over themselves on his lap, Zenyatta's gaze turned away from him. "You are under the impression I am asking for myself?" 

"I asked what you got out of it. No one does stuff just because another person dozes off. I took a nap, and you're acting like it mattered!"

Zenyatta shifted to flick a piece of lint off of his pant leg. "It did matter, and we both know it. You said you reflected on your home; When was the last time you had done so?" 

That wall that his brain was putting up scrambled to put it up faster, Genji's expression hardening. "That's none of your business. You know nothing of my past." 

The monk raised his hands in the universal sign of surrender, finally looking back at Genji. "I merely wanted to try to understand how it benefited you." 

"It didn't mean anything!"

"Are you saying that because you believe it? Or because it would be easier to pretend that it didn't?" Genji's expression was that of someone who just got slapped, watching Zenyatta take a deep breath that he physically didn't need before continuing. "You begin to relax, and allow some of your genuine thoughts out, and then shut down when it is noticed. From what I can see, you are divided; A Genji from your home, and a Genji who came to America. You are allowed to blend them." 

Standing up, Genji felt his hackles practically rise. "Do _not_ pretend like you have a read on me after one day!"

"Time is a construct that the heart and mind do not have to follow."

"Time matters! You don't know anything about someone that fast."

"Well then, we shall make it even. What is your view of me, after one day together?" 

Now that was a loaded question, and the fire that had grown behind Genji's eyes didn't dim as he barked out a sharp, "What?" 

"I asked, What is your view of me now? Compared to the view you had of me when you first entered my home?" 

Scoffing, Genji felt his shoulders pull back into a tense position, but now instead of familiar it felt uncomfortable after showing them relaxation for that short time. "I don't know, the same? It's been a day! It's not like much can change in a day! You can't _know_ anything about someone in a day."

Zenyatta appeared undeterred. "Then what is your opinion of me, time aside?" 

Where was this coming from? Why was he getting _questioned_ like this? His mouth moved before his brain could think of a good reply. "I think you're an omnic with who was coded to pry too much!" _Wait, that wasn't-_

That seemed to be the exact wrong thing to say. Hearing a whirring fill the room, Genji watched Zenyatta's posture tighten abruptly, his mala going from dancing cheerily around his neck as they talked to hanging quite close, barely moving. "Do you only look at the idea of friendship as the other party seeking for their own gain, Genji?" 

Brows raising, Genji's brain froze. "Friendship? I don't want to be _friends_. I came over because I wanted to know about the monastery stuff, that's it!"

_No no no, hold up, that wasn't what he meant-_

Zenyatta didn't move. He didn't so much as shift, his mala suspending in perfect stillness as the whirring got louder momentarily. Then, the omnic nodded, lifting from the floor a little bit and giving a bow to the standing man. The mood in the room went from stifling to icy, and Genji could feel it under his skin. "My mistake. I misunderstood the situation. I shall help you get home."

Genji felt like he'd gotten whiplash at such a dettached answer, even if it was what he'd been fishing for. Looking at the omnic, then outside, he shook his head, "The snow-"

"You may use the door. A jammed lock is nothing to worry over." Not looking back at Genji, Zenyatta began to drift from the room, and for a lot of reasons, the younger Shimada felt like he'd just fucked something up royally. 

Scratch that; He _knew_ he'd fucked something up royally, but Zenyatta had too!

Hadn't he?

He had to force himself to follow, footsteps loud even against the carpet as they went. Zenyatta didn't stop until he reached the front door, hand lifting to the broken lock and tipping to the right without having to make physical contact. Was that the energy manifestation he'd read about? The sound of the deadbolt sliding filled Genji's ears, and again, he spoke. "You could have let us out the whole time?" 

"I thought I was keeping Jesse out, not trapping you in. I will not make the same mistake, for your sake." Opening the door, Zenyatta again gave a small bow. "Thank you for the company, Shimada-San."

Genji looked at him, gave a soft huff, and got one step out the door before Zenyatta said, "Wait," and got him heaving a sigh of relief. 

Thank god, Zenyatta was going to apologize! Then this tension could be done with instead of leaving all weird-

Instead, he felt Zenyatta tap his arm, looking back at the omnic and seeing him holding up the small plant, Vikāsa.

_Why is he still offering this? It doesn't make sense._

The plant was passed off, and Zenyatta closed the door, the lock falling back with a soft 'click'.

Genji had never felt more thoroughly dismissed.

Zenyatta didn't say sorry.

Genji left without saying another word, though his heart was beating in his throat. He almost ran face first into McCree, who was leaving apartment #43 with a red face and a pair of borrowed pants on. "Hey Genji," He started to greet with a dazed voice, before his struck expression hardened a little. "Now hol' the phone, ain't I mad at you right now? What happened to bein' locked in and me bein' locked out?" 

Opening his mouth, then closing it, Genji shook his head and felt his face get hot, stomach twisting impossibly worse. 

He tried to think of how to tell McCree what had just happened, but no matter what he said, it wouldn't come out with him being the victim in it. 

He'd definitely fucked up. 

Not Zenyatta, because he would have apologized. That much, Genji had learned over the day. 

He'd learned over the one day he'd been around him, the one day he had insisted taught nothing. 

_fuck._

"I-" Head shaking harder, he pressed past McCree, the cowboy only allowing it out of sheer surprise. "Not now."

Getting inside his own apartment a mere moment later, Genji closed the door and leaned back on it, breathing coming short and Vikāsa's pot gripped tightly in his hand. 

He'd definitely fucked up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Next chapter is divided in two; This whole mess being addressed, and what happened with Hanzo and McCree! I hope you guys enjoy, and I hope Genji's emotional constipation played off well bc it was hard as fuck to write lol. Thanks for reading!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Hello, I'm terrible at updating stories quickly and/or efficiently

Gabriel Reyes was not a nosy man.

He liked dealing with his own shit; Other people's problems were theirs and theirs alone to handle, and like hell he was going to make it his concern to try to figure that shit out.

But when Zenyatta stripped a second bolt on something as simple as a tire change and actually zapped himself on a car battery, he had to get involved somehow.

The omnic was cradling his finger at the moment, a rag being used to rub over the now discolored metal as he mumbled something under his breath. Approaching slowly, Gabriel tried his hardest not to look like he was about to start prying, but a glance up had Zenyatta's shoulders slumping a little bit. "... I did not realize I was that obvious," He admitted before Gabriel could even open his mouth, his boss sighing in response.

"You usually do good work," He said, not regretting the decision to have Zenyatta help with car repairs. It was usually just the basics; Battery replacements, oil changes, tire changes. Nothing too complicated, though if it was he had no doubt Zenyatta could learn it in ten minutes and do it better than him. Gabriel still had need for janitorial, so at the moment the omnic was focused on that with repair work only added in during a busy day for the shop.

Except for today, when he was fucking up more than he was helping and was getting injured in the process.

"I know," Zenyatta said, his unsinged hand cradling the burnt one. "I am... Hm, what is the phrase?" Thinking for a moment, he nodded resolutely. "I am 'off my game', I believe."

"Yeah," Gabriel agreed, crossing his arms and feeling distinctly awkward in this approach. ".... Why?"

"The situation is a silly one," Zenyatta promised, but his boss scoffed.

"Please, you've met Jack. The man is the walking embodiment of ridiculousness. I think I can handle whatever you're about to say."

Taking a deep breath that he technically didn't need, Zenyatta nodded, "I suppose, if you are truly okay with it." Tipping his head up, Zenyatta's hands began to fold the oil-stained rag he was holding. "I was recently rejected in the idea of becoming friends with someone."

His honesty was admirable, but Gabe had to hold back a soft snort. Zen was a sweet guy; of course this kind of thing could be jarring, if the person he wanted to be friends with said 'no' so bluntly.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Gabe said honestly, watching Zenyatta's head tip down and look at the rag. "So what, did you guys meet and it just didn't work out or something?"

"No, not quite. He wanted to know about the life I used to live, and used me as a source of information." This alone seemed to get Zenyatta's body pinching together tighter, tone saddened even through the electronic overlay. "I was used to that, a long time ago. But I may or may not have confided in this person slightly, and to find out he was merely interested in my past and not in myself currently was.... hurtful.

"His soul is at unrest and for the first time in quite a while I wanted to-" Cutting himself off, Zenyatta curled his hand tighter around the other, looking up and shrugging, "Help him? I have not felt the pull to do so since Mondatta passed, and yet I did this time. Though, he made it quite clear he merely reached out to me for information. I feel silly, for it all." A beat of silence, and he waved his hands, forcing himself to sit up straighter, "I apologize, for putting so much of this out in the open."

Gabriel was looking at him with a stern expression, though he didn't seem upset at Zenyatta himself. "This guy sounds like a real asshole," He admitted, earning a soft laugh from his employee. He knew about Zenyatta's past, sure, but that was information that had been offered to him. To hear that someone pried that out before pushing Zenyatta away was vexing.

"He does have some flaws, I suppose. Though it is not my place to say one way or another."

"Why not? Sounds like you have plenty of space to say what you want."

"I do not wish to. I am saddened, but I have no want to speak ill of him, even if he has said some unsavory things."

"Unsavory?" Gabriel parroted, raising a brow. "Like what?"

Tipping his head in thought, Zenyatta said, "His open dislike for omnics was hard to listen to. I've heard it from much more hateful people, but he simply did not understand the fact that I had thoughts, or opinions at first. I was 'just a service omnic' to him, and evidently in the end as well." Seeming to puff up to say something, the omnic deflated once more and he shook his head. "I had been naïve, to think one day would have changed that for him."

"Hold on, what?" Leaning in a little bit, Gabe's arms crossed over his chest, expression going from irritation on Zenyatta's part to genuine annoyance. "He said what?"

Noticing this, Zenyatta's tone turned amused. "Worry not, I am aiming to let myself move on from the situation. I believe I put stock into a connection that wasn't really there; I felt a pull, that I would teach him and he would teach me. Perhaps some wires were simply crossed, and it was my mistake."

"Fuck wires, he disrespected you like that?" Gabe questioned. "How did you even meet him?"

"He is my neighbor," Zenyatta answered, "I did his laundry and Jesse brought him over to say hello."

"Y-" Holding up a hand, Gabe seemed baffled by these developments. Lifting a hand, he counted off, "Question one, you did his laundry? Why? Question two, he knows Jesse? How? Question three, you live next to him?"

"Answer one, yes, and it had been thrown onto the lawn, so I took it upon myself to return it to a clean and dry state. Answer two, they are good friends, having met during one of Jesse's shifts. Answer three, Jesse and I just moved across from him," Zenyatta answered succinctly.

"Good friends huh?" Nodding, Gabe stood up straight once more. "How good of friends?"

".... Mr. Reyes," Zenyatta started in a cautious tone, his boss not looking even remotely apologetic with his deadpan expression, "Whatever you wish to do-"

"I never said anything about wishing, niño." Walking past, he patted Zenyatta's shoulder, pulling out his phone as he went, "I just have to make a quick phone-call."

"Mr. Reyes-" Zenyatta started again, before suddenly perking up sharply. "Give him a job!"

That stopped Gabriel in his tracks, phone halfway to his ear before he turned to look at their janitor like he was insane. Maintaining eye contact, his thumb tapped the 'end call' button, "Excuse me, what?"

"He is the younger of the Shimada brothers. I am sure you have met Shimada Hanzo?"

"Had him glare at me," Gabriel recalled, knowing all about Shimada Hanzo from his idiot kid. Jesse talked about the guy non-stop, and if he weren't so standoffish to McCree, Reyes would probably be more endeared to him. However, he was used to that sort of thing from Jack, the most standoffish asshole of all, so he could see why Jesse had fallen so hard. Like ex-commander, like ex-grunt, he supposed. 

"A kind man, truly. I am sure you have heard from Jesse how highly he thinks of him." His tone of voice had Gabriel's eyes narrowing momentarily, looking more critically at his janitor. 

"You insinuating something?" He aimed to confirm, Zenyatta letting a hand flutter in kind dismissal. 

"I am merely pointing out that I have heard rumors of his exhaustion that his brother has difficulty finding work. A lack of experience, or a resume, can make it much harder to get a job. Lest you get one through the kindness of good people, of course." Giving Gabriel a pointed look to highlight his high opinion of his boss's generosity, Zenyatta gave a too-innocent shrug. "Should Genji get a job, I am sure Hanzo would appreciate your magnanimity, and it could possibly cause him to instill more trust in Jesse. Should my roommate take credit for the idea to earn said trust, of course."

Clicking his tongue, Gabriel tried not to be impressed at how casually Zenyatra played off bribery, yet failed brilliantly. While his heart was in the right place, Jesse hadn't made much headway in the realm of impressing Hanzo, but getting his younger brother a job and making it seem like his own idea was actively genius. 

"Wouldn't working with him be hard? Considering what you just told me?" Gabe tested. 

"Not for me, no. I would handle myself professionally."

"And what do you get out of it?"

"A chance to speak with him and get to know him without the enforcement of social formalities; as co-workers, we could just as easily avoid each other as not. If I am present, that does not entail friendship. It is ease of convenience, if he reaches out."

"I'll be real, Tekhartha, he doesn't sound worth the trouble." Already, Gabriel low-key hated this kid, but his words only earned a laugh from his employee. 

"Every masterpiece starts with a crude outline. I feel as though he is lost, and rejecting any assistance to be found. I could be wrong; it has been a while since I have aimed to help a wandering soul. But if I am to have a final student, I would prefer to choose someone that _needs_ it. From everything I have heard from others, he is a party crazed youth with no ambition. But when I talked to him......" Zenyatta looked off, voice tender but sad. "He is lonely."

Gabriel Reyes was not a nosy man. 

Yet seeing some sense of relation between the young man being described and the lonely omnic that had once wandered into his garage, Gabe had to heave a sigh. 

"..... Will he work hard?"

 

-

 

"I beg your pardon?"

Hanzo barely had his scarf unwrapped from around his neck as he'd slid into Jesse's car before his co-worker was speaking, forcing him to keep one foot against the snow covered curb as he sat down.

"I got Genji a job." McCree repeated himself now with trepidation, his previous proud grin wilting a little. "Is that..... Not good?"

Dropping the scarf fully, Hanzo finally pulled himself in from the cold, closing the door behind him and trapping them in Jesse's truck. The heater was going full blast, biting away at the chill that aimed to cling to them and drowning out the sound of McCree clearing his throat nervously. "Why?" Hanzo asked a little too bluntly, the cowboy scrambling to explain.

"You said you were worried about rent! And I know Genji's got some money set aside-" That was the overstatement of the year; Genji was running _out_ of money but was too stubborn to admit it, "but you're always stressed about it and I thought if he had an easy job to get into, it may help both of ya out in the long run. When I asked him about it he said he didn't even have a resume or nothin' and-"

"This was out of kindness?" Double checking this fact felt important, and the ex-heir wished he could figure out why it got his stomach flipping. McCree looked and sounded genuine enough in his delivery, and he wasn't wrong; Rent was a constant worry, even if they had money in savings. Eventually, that would run out, and god forbid they needed to up and leave if the Elders decided to try to track them down.

Not to mention, well...

Genji had been insufferable all day.

Having no reason to leave the house when he was upset meant he sulked on the couch, his bedroom still being a barren place that was a total mess of clothes and shurikens in the walls. All day, Genji had been curled up in a small ball on the couch, an irate lump of hatred at seemingly the whole world. Hanzo gently prodded, but Genji refused to extrapolate.

Instead, he didn't let himself eat the food Hanzo put down in front of him for breakfast, or for lunch. His tea went cold, and when Hanzo tried again to insist that he eat, he got a snap of, "Leave it be."

"I mean, he doesn't have to take it," McCree tried to assure, now looking like he realized he'd totally put his foot in it for offering up a genuinely kind gesture, "I didn't mean-"

"Where is it?" This Hanzo asked a little more softly, a mixture of surprise and curiosity. McCree had been listening to him bitch about it, yes, even if it wasn't often. Not many people knew both Hanzo and Genji, and McCree was surprisingly sympathetic when it came to the elders worry about his younger brothers listless behavior. _He took my problem into his own hands, with no gain._

Hanzo didn't know what to do with that information.

"Reyes' garage. He needs some extra help, and if you think Genji can learn fast enough, he said he'd give 'im a trial period, test the waters." The smile he gave was proud then, finally picking up on the fact that Hanzo wasn't insulted or upset, "Said he trusts my judgement on it. Think he'd be up for it?"

That was a good question. Hanzo had wanted Genji to get a job, but the younger had the best loophole in the world; No experience whatsoever, anywhere, and no resume to get his foot in the door at any job. Genji had dismissed the idea a thousand times over, and now it was being offered up on a silver platter.

When Hanzo gave a rare and genuine smile, McCree lit up like a tree on Christmas. "I'll make him be 'up for it'," Hanzo assured, finally settling in for them to begin the short drive to work. ".... Thank you, Jesse."

"Pfft, ain't no problem at all," McCree assured, puffing up slightly under the attention.

 

-

 

"No."

"It is not up for discussion."

" _No_ ," Genji repeated again, more sternly and with much more venom in his tone than the conversation warranted.

Hanzo had a surprisingly nice night at work that evening. While he didn't want to attach it to McCree doing him a kindness, it was hard to ignore the fact that the two seemed to go hand in hand. McCree's jokes had been a touch funnier, his laugh less abrasive when Hanzo allowed himself a witty comeback. They'd both made good tips for the evening, and the ride home hadn't been unbearably filled with country music.

And then he'd come home to find Genji still on the couch, watching some old western movie that looked terrible and was switched to be spoken in Spanish.

He hadn't slept, hadn't showered, and hadn't eaten. It was so stereotypical of an angry Genji that Hanzo had brought up the job thing immediately, just to get some form of a reaction out of him.

"You are taking this job," Hanzo insisted, clearing away the plate of rice and now cold egg that had gone untouched. "I do not understand your _pouting_ , nor do I understand how you can go day to day so carefree about our financial security. Should we need to up and go, we need money to do so, and you have mostly burned through what you had stolen under the Clan's nose."

"I'm not getting a job! And I am _not_ pouting," Genji said, red rimmed eyes narrowed and watching his brother like a hawk watched a wily rabbit. "We have enough, you make enough-"

"It is not my job to be your caretaker for the rest of your life," Hanzo snapped, his annoyance getting the better of him as the rice bowl met the sink with a jarring clatter, "I will not be here to cook for you, work for you, decorate for you or pull you from your emotional tar pit for the rest of your life. That is not my duty, and you have experienced it from me for this long, only to show a lack of any growth as it is. You have not changed a fraction from when we left Hanamura, and that is _dangerous_ , Genji. It nearly got you killed once, and you have made no effort to change your ways or your life from the time you were a young teenager."

The words seemed to hang thickly in the air as Hanzo looked down at the rice bowl, the poached egg on top having broken when he'd dropped it and seeping a thick, yellow yolk over the long chilled rice. Inhaling deeply through his nose, the elder tried to unpinch his shoulders, the air in his lung leaving in a gust. "Were something to happen to me, I refuse to leave you unable to find a way in this world. This is a lucky, and good, opportunity; You will not pass it up the way you have done in the past."

The sound of the couch creaking got him looking up, only to see Genji standing there with a blanket wrapped around his shoulders and eyes now more red than before. He looked strikingly like he had when he was a child, and had gotten punished for breaking a fancy vase in the East Wing. The flashback to the memory took a moment to brush away, Hanzo zoning back in on his very-much-an-adult-now sibling looking like a pathetic kid who'd gotten scolded.

"I haven't changed," Genji repeated, but it wasn't said in a way that dripped offense. Instead, he sounded like this was more of a revelation, and Hanzo didn't know what to take that as. When green hair was pushed out of his face, Genji rubbed at his eyes with his palms, shaking his head. "Am I really the same? That I was then?"

"Yes," Hanzo said without thought, because it was true. Genji was one of the few people in the world he cared for, but he knew that his sibling had managed to avoid responsibility and maturity in a skillful manner.

"I was a jerk when I was younger," Genji clarified, and Hanzo nodded.

"You still are," He said with sigh, hands resting on the edge of the sink. "Look at the Zenyatta situation. You refused to thank him when he did you a favor. This is not a new trait of yours, Genji, but we are no longer in a place where you are able to get away with that. Back home, we had power and that is a key to treat others at your whim. Here, it will not be such a kind existence."

The mention of Zenyatta, for some reason, seemed to send Genji back to being couch bound. Watching a tuft of green hair tuck up next to the blanket, Hanzo trailed back out to the living room, looking down at his sibling. "You-"

"Where is it?"

"Excuse me?"

"The job." A brown eye peaked up, locking onto Hanzo's. "Where?"

"Jesse's adopted father, Gabriel, owns a garage." After saying this much, Genji seemed to tense up tenfold, Hanzo's expression scrunching in response. "What?"

"Zenyatta works there," Genji said in way of explanation, but that actually confused his brother more. Receiving a further questioning look, he looked away. "I don't want to work with him."

"How unfortunate for you. You start tomorrow, 10 A.M." Genji's head snapped to look at him at this, mouth opening for the beginning of another argument only for Hanzo to reach for the remote and turn off the TV. "Enough. This is not up for discussion, and if I hear even a whisper of you not doing this job to the best of your abilities, I can and will make sure you are living in a nightmare." The threat was delivered with a pointed look, Hanzo dropping the remote to the end table. "Do you understand?"

Genji just clenched his jaw in response, but Hanzo took it for what he could.

The elder headed for his bedroom with little argument following, and Genji bit the inside of his mouth until he could taste copper. 

For the fiftieth time that day, he pushed himself to stand, walking over to the end table that a tiny plant was currently sitting on. It was if it could sense he didn't _want_ to care about it; It had only been a few days, but the leaves looked a little more yellow, and shied away from where he had been (not) sulking on the couch. Their reach towards the daily sunbeam that hit for a few hours was obvious, stalk stretching to get more into it even if it was the sunniest spot Genji could think of to leave it. 

Giving it a little more water, he slumped over to the couch, his cheek meeting the cushion as the TV was turned back on. 

 

-

 

"Zen!" The chipper voice sounded out before the omnic felt strong arms wrap around him, the combination of the morning sun through the windows and the hug earning a happy hum. Patting her wrist, Zenyatta turned when she let go, happy to see Brigitte grinning back at him. "Was a week without me too long?" 

"From a spiritual perspective, painfully so. From a friend perspective, I know that we cannot compete with the extensive Lindholm line in terms of time distribution," He assured, making sure to sigh this part dramatically. Brigitte laughed, elbowing him before reaching up to pull her long auburn hair into a tight bun. "How is your family?" 

"Loud as always," She promised, freckled nose scrunching as she tugged her own hair too hard. "Father is happy I am learning so much here, but wants to teach me about 'Proper Lindholm Engineering' every second that I'm home." A sigh, and a stuck out tongue, before her smile was wide as ever. "The work never stops, ja?"

It was 10 A.M. on a Wednesday, the sun warming the garage and giving the place a golden glow, allowing Zenyatta one last moment of comfort.

From behind her, the door to the shop dinged, causing Brigitte to turn and look at the early bird customer. He didn't look like someone who needed help, instead standing and waiting to be talked to with some form of confidence. Sitting up a little straighter, Zenyatta's tone became somewhat nervous, Brigitte looking back at him to see him wringing his hands. "No, no I suppose it doesn't."

"Who's that?" Brigitte asked, turning again to watch the man with both shocking green hair and dark circles from hell. He was immediately approached by Reyes, their conversation quiet. Another look to Zenyatta, and she had to nudge him. "Zen?" 

"It has been a weird week," He whispered back, before stiffening tenfold when the pair approached them. 

"-nd this is Brigitte, she works on newer models of the fusion engines, so she'll show you the ropes on the bare basics." Reyes approached with the new employee in tow, and Brigitte turned with a hand extended for a shake on reflex. "Brigitte, this is Shimada Genji, a new hire." 

"I didn't think you did new hires anymore," She teased, looking at Genji with a wiggle of her fingers, "Hej! I'm Brigitte, it's nice to meet you." 

Genji looked at her hand, up to her face, then back at her hand with an almost zombie like form of exhaustion. He honestly looked terrible, and off to the side, earned a touch of pity from the omnic. At the lack of interaction, Gabriel cleared his throat, giving Brigitte an out to drop her hand before he motioned to Zen. " I believe you've already met-" 

"Yeah," Genji deadpanned, looking both annoyed and guilty and basically guillotining any chance at further conversation. The air thinned from it, Reyes cutting himself off when he noticed how tense Zenyatta was, and how distant Genji seemed. The two looked at each other for a moment, before Zenyatta gave a somewhat titter, clearing a throat he didn't have.

Looking at a barren wrist, Zenyatta gave a soft whistle, "Look at the time, I believe it is time for me to begin inventory count and finish the tuning job on the Robinson's car." A short bow, and he began to float way before Reyes hand shot out, catching his shoulder. 

" _This_ is Tekhartha Zenyatta, who you will beginning your base training with." Both heads swiveled to look at him like he was crazy, but the ex-commander simply wore his eyebrows lofted. "He'll teach you basic tuning, tire alignments, oil change, tire change, battery change; Any of our most common problems, he will help you with."

"Gabriel, I-"

"I really don't w-"

"Welcome to the shop," Gabriel finished, giving each of them a single pat on the shoulder before stepping away. Brigitte was tugged along with him, the young Lindholm sending Zenyatta a questioning look before disappearing around the corner.

Silence fell.

When he'd asked Reyes to give Genji a job, it was under the impression that the two would be allowed to work _separately_. While he wished he could say that was entirely for Genji's benefit, it was also for his own, and now-

"..... You look tired," Zenyatta commented lightly, trying to ignore the rare feeling of panic quelling in his chest.

"Yeah." The glare didn't really leave, Genji tucking his hands under his armpits and visibly cutting himself off further in the process. His hair looked a little greasy, shirt clean but wrinkled. It looked like he had fought every step of the day to get to the shop, and Zenyatta knew full well why he had. Giving a slow nod, Zenyatta allowed himself a mere moment to spiritually scramble for his center, before he turned and began to lead.

"Then we will start with the easy things," He assured, listening to the footfalls behind him.

Genji, for what it was worth, did not want to be there. He had woken up after less than an hour of sleep, the little plant was beginning to wilt after a mere three days in his care, he hadn't showered, and he had to do laundry. And besides Hanzo all but dragging him out of the house by his ear, he walked behind Zenyatta with something thimble sized loosening in his chest.

Over the past few days, Genji had come to terms with the fact that Zenyatta was not going to apologize because he didn't _need_ to. He had tried to be a friend, and Genji had been-

_You have not changed a fraction from when we left Hanamura, and that is_ dangerous-

He bit his tongue, and listened to Zenyatta begin to talk about tires, spite keeping his belly warm and his chest cold.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((this took ♪forever♪. Its unbeta'd, please ignore/roll with any major mistakes, and i hope you enjoy!! TW for mentions of blood and making out with a stranger, short lived as it is.

"How is Vikāsa?"

The question was asked while Genji wiped sweat from his brow, exhaustion heavy in his frame and causing his annoyance to be worn on his sleeve. He was technically a trained assassin, if not one very out of practice, and right now he was being outdone in brawn so casually; Zenyatta was teaching him about tire changes, and the omnic barely even had to look at his hands as he worked. 

_Stupid robot_ , Genji bit back, instead not looking away from the lug nuts he'd removed. "It's fine." 

"Hmm." The flat hum had green hair bouncing as Genji's head snapped to look up, gaze falling on the slitted eyes of Zenyatta's faceplate. 

It had been a long day. 

Besides the fact that Genji hated speaking more than five words to his current mentor, they had gotten in a slew of work right near the end of Genji's training period. Gabriel had assessed that Genji could 'use the lessons from this', and had moved his clock out time to 8, two hours after the shop closed. They had finished nearly all of the learning work, now having a few hours to clean the shop for the next day, but this final tire change was basically the end of Genji's rope. 

All day, Genji had been at war, and no one could even see it. Some sniveling part of his brain was insistent on trying to talk to Zenyatta, to apologize for what was said. Granted, the other part of his brain was pissed at himself for the show of weakness, and he hated being wrong in any capacity. The sun would hit him right, grant the most minuscule comfort so his tired brain could get a semblance of peace, and he'd open his mouth to say something like 'I'm sorry'. Then, the next step, the sun was gone, there would be a loud 'clang' in the shop, and his disdain for the omnic hardened further and further, back and forth all day. 

Zenyatta had been fairly quiet, offering a compliment here or there when Genji would pick up on something easily and corrections that still sounded kind when he didn't. 

The kindness was fake. It had to be.

"What do you mean by 'hmm'?" It was snipped out, Genji's shoulders tightened and tongue ready to lash. 

"I meant it as a considering hum, but I can go into a further breakdown if you'd like," Zenyatta said, spinning the tire iron expertly as he began tightening his last bolt. Looking up, his work paused. "What did you take it as?" 

Scoffing from the other side of the car, Genji tried to put on a lug nut and damn near pinched his fingertip. "No one hums to hum. You meant something and chose not to say it. Just say what you mean."

"I reacted exactly how I wanted to," Zenyatta assured, continuing his work, "The benefit of a metal face." 

To that, Genji didn't have an immediate comeback. It validated and invalidated a lot of his personal thoughts, and the lack of music or human bustling in the shop felt like a noose on every bout of silence. Finally getting the lug nut in place, he began working on tightening it, physically having to bite his tongue for a moment. 

".... Though I do have more to say, that I truly mean." 

The statement startled Genji, enough that his tired brain had to stop turning his tire iron to process it. From where he was crouched, the ex-heir couldn't see Zenyatta, but his voice echoed in the empty shop. "My contributions to a conversation are usually calculated, but that does not mean they are fully truthful. I do not have eyebrows to furrow when I am confused, I do not have a mouth to use when I want to frown. I do not have eyes to well with tears when I feel sorrow, making it very easy to seem as though I am in full control of myself when I am not. 

"I..." A deep sigh reverberated around the room, Genji still frozen as he listened. Silence fell, thick enough to cut, before something flew from the other side of the car right towards Genji's head. It was about the size of a softball, Genji lifting a hand to try to block it and-

" _Oh_." Genji sighed the word out in surprise, some tail of light leaving the orb and hooking to him. Instantly, he felt all of the exhaustion seep out of him like sap from a tree. The orb was hovering, the light a soft golden glow, and upon further inspection looked like one of Zenyatta's mala. The longer it stayed hooked to him, the better he felt, a few seconds bringing a mental clarity he hadn't had in days. 

It felt like he had the finest nights sleep of his life, and could run ten miles to boot. "What the-" Scrambling to stand and scattering lug nuts in his wake, Genji leaned over the hood of the car to look at the monk, "What did you just do to me?" 

Instead of hovering above the ground like he usually was, Zenyatta was sitting more slumped, elbows resting on grease stained yellow pants and shoulders hunched.

He looked tired. 

"I was hurt, by you." A silver head tipped up, catching the light and looking almost like polished chrome before the industrial steel face met Genji's gaze. "I left Nepal, my home, and uprooted my existence. I came here under the guise of a work visa when it was really as protection for being considered a religious leader, and gained a low profile job that I enjoy. 

"And during this time, I met a young soul that I felt understood my plight. Of leaving with little other option, of loss, of being _lost_. Merely on a hunch, mind you, but the pull of a greater purpose. A soul that I showed vulnerability to, who merely aimed to learn more of my brother like most of the others that I have met." Head tipping back down, Zenyatta pushed himself to stand. To _actually_ stand, which- 

Damn.

He was taller than Genji, and the Shimada squared his shoulders while forcing down the creeping feeling of intimidation. Zenyatta was almost a full head taller than him, nearly eye level with the golden orb that was floating over Genji's head. He had to look down at Genji to speak to him, with a voice gentle enough to betray the alarming figure he cut. "I do not have the capacity to smile, frown, weep, glare. I _do_ have the capacity to share, but I choose these moments carefully. I saw your acts of mischief and delighted in them, and apparently in doing so lost my ability to use critical thinking. 

"If I had known you simply wanted to discuss Mondatta, I would not have told you so much. I had.... Misunderstood, your interest." Nodding resolutely at the word, the golden ball above Genji's head was plucked away, Zenyatta letting it go back to the mala floating around him. "That is why I hummed. Because I do not think it would be in either of our best interest for me to pry again, even as something as simple as a plant. Is that a sufficient explanation?"

Opening his mouth once, and then closing it, Genji's brain was going absolutely haywire. What the fuck did all of that mean? What the fuck was he supposed to _do_ with any of that? Had Zenyatta just used some other worldly magic on him? Why would he when he just admitted to being hurt? Why did he say all of that? An elbow reached to bump Genji gently as Zenyatta walked past, metal toes clicking against the concrete floor and bringing him back to the moment. "You are free to leave, Shimada-san. I know Gabriel wants you to stay late for training, but I can finish-"

"I don't care about your dumb brother." _My god, you couldn't have worded that better?_ a voice that sounded like Hanzo's hissed in his head, but Genji watched Zenyatta lock up and needed to keep going to try to save the statement. "I didn't know who he was, before, okay? I found him because I wanted to ask you about your life and wasn't sure if you were powered down, or why you needed to power down, or-" Sighing, he threw up his hands a little, waving them to dismiss the ramble, "I don't know! I began reading a lot and was on something about motherboards before I stumbled across his page. 

"But I had planned on talking to you again, outside of him." Crossing his arms, Genji shrunk in place. "It was a good topic to start with, even if it was accidental. When I said I had only wanted to know about the monastery, it was out of spite. You pissed me off and I-" Taking in a deep breath, it sounded like he was gritting his teeth to get the words out, "I did what I've always done."

"Built walls?" Zenyatta questioned, head tilting to look just past his shoulder at him. 

".... Lied." Wincing at his own words, Genji shook his head. ".... The plant is dying and I cant seem to get it to stop." 

"... Hmm." That same hum, so similar yet leagues different from the one prior. It made Genji want to scream, but that weird orb had done wonders for his patience. "You have been trying?"

"I put it in the sun, and gave it water. But it's yellowing. It looks pitiful," he said, something akin to guilt building in him. When he'd gotten it, it seems like a normal little plant, and within three days he'd already ruined it. 

"How much sunlight does it get a day?"

"I don't know, a few hours?"

"Which room in your home recieves the most sunlight?"

This, Genji had to think on. The living room was the least sunny, but his memory of the summer sun filling his room for most of the day came to mind. "My bedroom, but-"

"Move the plant to there," Zenyatta explained, that hidden amusement creeping ever so slightly into his tone. He turned to look at Genji more fully. "It needs sunlight, as much as you can offer it. A few hours is not sufficient."

"Well I-" Nose scrunching, Genji didn't want to explain that he didn't have any surface to put it on. And Zenyatta had even said not to put in in the windowsill so it wouldn't die from the cold. Shutting himself up, Genji mentally made a note to figure something out. He'd admitted the truth about the dying plant, he couldn't let the thing keel over now. "I can do that." 

"I am glad," Zenyatta said, head tipping like he was smiling. "You may still go, if you would like. You did well today, and I believe the hours Gabriel gave may have been extensive."

Brows raising, Genji perked up. "Really? You didn't just want me to leave because you were mad?"

The laugh he got echoed in the shop, Zenyatta's hand covering half of his chassis. "I have never been mad at you; You would know if I had been. I'm a monk, not a saint. It is my job to teach someone how to find personal enlightenment, not to transcend the folly of emotion."

".... So you're not pissed?" He double checked with caution, earning another chuckle. 

"No, you are free to go with no ulterior motive attached, Shimada-san." Giving him a short bow, Zenyatta finally began his original trek, heading for the back room. Seeing him walk was fascinating, but Genji wasn't interested enough to forget his dismissal. 

It wasn't informal, but the apprentice refused to focus on something so small. Instead, he moved like a prisoner freed.

Thank you!" The words were quick, Genji bounding to grab his phone where he's plugged it in and to scoop up his jacket. Before even a minute had passed, he was out the door, shoes crunching in the snow while he wrestled his jacket on. It was a Friday, and he had definitely missed out on a lot of his usual unwind time the whole week. Sending a text to Lucio, then Hana, then to Hanzo telling him not to wait up, Genji began opening up the slew of ignored messages from the past few days. 

Partying could be considered therapeutic, right?

-

The door was damn near flung open as Genji stumbled through with- Yasa? Yasmin? Fuck, he didn't actually remember. But when she kissed him again, adding more red lipstick to his own stained mouth, and Genji quickly decided he didn't really care what she was called. 

Dancing with a stranger could usually lead to something fun, and as always, the universe delivered. Yasha (Yara? Yumi, maybe) had a black bob cut, sharp straight bangs, and a hell of a body for dancing. They hadn't talked for more than the Lyft ride home, and she seemed..... 

She was fine, he supposed. A little boring, but he hadn't really gone out looking for anything that kind of interesting. She was hot, at his house, and decidedly not a snarky service omnic that he felt weirdly guilty around; By those standards, she was more than welcome in his bed. When she pushed him back against the couch and grabbed the hem of his shirt, his grin was wolfish. The material was pulled over his head and thrown to the side, Yuki (Yuki! It was Yuki! Right?) mirroring the grin. She began to lean down for another kiss as the shirt landed, hitting into something with a dull clatter and causing a 'thump' to sound in the apartment. 

The amount of tequila in his system was close to criminal, and had him reacting slower than he wanted to. 

Genji's head flicked to look over with some excess sway, the only illumination in the apartment coming from the street lights outside. From the white light reflecting off the snow, he could see the lump of cloth halfway hanging off his endtable, and- 

And Yuki was taking up his field of vision, aiming to kiss him again. she managed, just barely, as brown eyes continued to stay open and look at where the shirt had fallen. Why was something about that worrisome? She began to kiss along his jaw before making a noise of surprise when Genji moved to stand instead. "Hey-!"

Okay, yeah, Genji may have been a little drunk, and he may have had a gorgeous woman on his lap, but his brain sluggishly caught on the fact that the shirt in question was taking over the space that was designated for a tiny, dying plant.

Ugh, the plant. He'd gone drinking with Hana to avoid thinking about the plant, or the enigmatic omnic that gifted it. Yet still, he wanted to check on it. 

Scratch that; The pull in his stomach insisted he _had_ to. Hell, he didn't want the little thing hurt, quite the contrary. He just wanted to avoid it for now, to let it get moved to the sunnier room tomorrow.

"Wait," he said as he nudged her sideways, his date giving a disgruntled noise as she was unseated. Nimble feet carried Genji over to the endtable quickly, while Yuki said something to him that he ignored. The shirt wasn't just covering it, like he'd hoped, and a glance down had his stomach clenching. 

Wobbly hands reached out to touch the loose soil that was now on his carpet, spilling out from the fallen plant. It had the dramatic flare of a crime scene, almost; Vikāsa looked positively pitiful, a sickly sort of yellow with one of it's two leaves ripped off, and it's tiny ceramic pot cracked down the middle. For a lot of reasons, Genji stared. 

Oh. 

He had been given this just a few days ago, fully healthy and on it's way to being.... Whatever kind of plant it was, he didn't know. Hell, he hadn't been given enough instructions on it in the first place! He'd thought Zenyatta would tell him what kind it was, to make caring for the thing easier, but-

But he'd never asked. 

_Oh._

"Genji!" He snapped out of it to look over, back to the couch. Yuki was sitting there and watching him, looking a good bit more annoyed than before. Her shirt was crooked on her shoulders, her lipstick faded, and brow pinched. "You good? We were kinda in the middle of something." 

Genji gave a glance back to the plant, and for a moment his drunk brain thought the soil looked like blood in the dark. It didn't stain the same way, but the suppressed memory hit like a train, the feeling of it oozing through his fingers striking as clearly as if it were happening. The panic that started in his chest was a sickly sort of warmth, coating his stomach and throat while he considered wiping his hands on his pants. 

The plant was dying, and it looked so familiar in it's broken state. 

Instead of cleaning his hands, Genji's fingers threaded through the soil, scooping up the tiny clump of roots and dirt and holding them close to his chest. "My plant-" 

"Your... what?" She asked, sort of squinting at him as he stood up. He was shirtless, now sprinkled with dirt, and holding a tiny ball of roots and soil to his heart. With the messy hair and red stained lips, the look was ridiculous. 

"Vikāsa, my plant," He said a touch defensively, glancing down at his clutched hands. The dirt was under his nails, so like gore from a life long gone, and he felt his face warming up further. Why was this plant affecting him more than the human lives he had taken under his family's thumb? 

Granted, he refused to ever think about those lives, but he should still be reacting differently. 

"Your plant... Has a name?" She ventured carefully, like she was hearing something ridiculous. 

"Why wouldn't it have a name?" Genji snapped, watching her brows raise, before she raised her hands in surrender. 

"I dunno, it's just a plant! I thought you'd be more focused on-"

Genji tried to pull the roots closer to him, feeling a snarl get snuffed in his chest that was from deeper in his soul. It felt like his dragon, though the spiritual creature very rarely ever made an appearance anymore. Hanzo used to insist that the dragon had been Genji's voice of reason, and went silent from being ignored daily. That warmth in his face got worse, the heat taking residence behind his eyes. Genji tipped his head down and opened his fingers to look at the nearly dead plant while his dragon sank away again, the cool air of the apartment obvious on his next inhale. 

Would it survive repotting? Did it need specialty soil after this? Where could he get a new pot? Genji didn't know the plant type, and he couldn't look up care instructions. 

From the depths of his brain and chest, the insistence he got was clear; _You cannot take care of this on your own_.

If he set it down to deal with later, it would die, and that worry was no longer rooted in spiting Zenyatta. Instead, he opened his mouth to say something that he didn't expect, voice quiet compared to the internal chatter. "I need you to go."

Her look of indignance was something else entirely. 

"Excuse me?"

Genji just looked at her, feeling his hands tighten minutely around the dying flora. 

"I..... I apologize. I have to take care of it."

He could feel the hands of his younger self wrapping around his neck to kill him over his own stupidity. 

Yuki seemed to wait, if only for a few moments before her expression hardened. Pushing herself to stand with a little too much vigor, she began straightening her clothing, still looking dishevelled. Genji made no room to retract his statement or stop her, instead watching her almost wearily while she went and snagged her purse. "And Hana said you were a catch....." She mumbled, slamming the door harder than needed on her way out without a look back. 

The apartment was still, the lack of sound finally broken by a soft sniffle. Genji's brow furrowed, feeling that warmth in his face now concentrated into tears, and wished he could wipe them away. Instead he was coated in dirt, leaving him to feel worse and worse as each second passed. 

He was crying over a plant. He'd kicked a fun time out of his apartment, over a fucking _plant_. 

When he was younger, if he broke something, he could always play it off. He never got in trouble, but technically he wouldn't be in trouble for this. The plant was a gift, to do with as he pleased, and he had no one to dismiss the upset on. 

No, the only person this made sad was himself, and he was the only one trying to find a way to fix it. 

Very rarely in life had his actions led to his own hurt. It was usually just kinda someone else's problem. But right now, he was looking at this tiny thing that had fought so hard to grow, and in three days he'd _destroyed_ it. 

Zenyatta's words floated in his head, but they were jumbled and foreign. They didn't translate like they should have been, there wasn't an easy answer in them. 

All he saw was a broken gift, very much like himself. 

_You cannot take care of this on your own_ , an age old voice insisted again, and Genji startled at the realization he hadn't heard his dragon in years so clearly. 

Hopefully he could blame it on the alcohol. 

-

The knocking on the door happened at 2:13 A.M. 

Jesse, of course, was the one to wake up from it, eyes blurrily opening before he snapped to sit up. His prosthetic arm was on his nightstand and hastily forgotten as Jesse slid out of bed, leaving his room. His internal clock was never far off, and no one would knock before the sun for something like a cup of sugar.

It was rare for him to be home and asleep around this time usually, but Hanzo had said something about closing at the bar. He'd told McCree to go home, that he was trying to 'wait out his brother', and the cowboy wasn't stupid enough to tell Hanzo no or reject a chance at extra sleep. 

So much for that, now that Jesse was walking around in old boxers and a Reba shirt. 

When he got to the front door, Jesse looked through the peephole, confusion hitting him harder as his tired brain suddenly sobered. "The hell?" He mumbled, fumbling with the new lock.

The door opened to reveal a dirt covered Genji, red over his mouth and kiss marks down his neck while cradling something to his chest and sporting-

Watery eyes? 

He was crying, a fevered pink covering high on his cheeks as he tried to inhale through his nose. He wasn't wearing a shirt, or shoes, and the whole thing rose Jesse's worry like a rocket while the Shimada sniffled.

"Genj?" McCree began softly, looking down at his friend as he reached his hand out carefully. How should he comfort him? What the hell had happened? In all the time they'd known each other, Jesse had never seen him more than frown, and now Genji was seeming to fall apart in the hallway of all places, severely underdressed and reeking of booze to boot. 

"Jesse?" The sound of his own name had Jesse's head swiveling to look at Zenyatta as he approached; The omnics frame still held his tiredness from a lack of a proper nights rest, forehead lights flicking back on at various speeds. He'd been in sleep mode for a good few hours, but McCree wasn't surprised that he'd woken up. It never took much to rouse him, and Genji's knocking hadn't been exactly quiet. The monks attention seemed to shift from McCree to Genji pretty easily, metal hands splaying just so in surprise when Genji looked up at him. 

"Help me?" The green haired man croaked out, another bout of his mental emotional cocktail hitting him and rendering him quiet as he finally looked up.

Zenyatta and Jesse were looking at him, and Genji's pride was finally snuffed enough by the alcohol to hold back a retort. 

Hands opening, Genji revealed the nearly dead plant, knowing damn well that he was just drunk and sad for basically no reason. Knowing damn well that he'd regret this show in the morning. Knowing damn well that this plant was some fucking metaphor for himself that Zenyatta had to have planned when he gave it to him. 

Yet when the monk drifted closer, somehow displaying more concern than anyone he'd ever met even with the lack of a human face, Genji's throat clenched. His usual anger was a low simmer of sorrow, and he couldn't get his sharp tongue to lash. 

Offering up the plant a little more, the words were a plea. _"Help me."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Feelings? In my Genji? It's more likely than you think. Lmao i hope y'all like it, lemme know what you think!! Thanks for reading!!


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